Redlands Swimming & Diving Sweeps Occidental and Chapman on Senior Day

The Bulldog seniors celebrated Senior Day with victories over Occidental and Chapman.  (Photo Credit:  Ellis Hazard)
The Bulldog seniors celebrated Senior Day with victories over Occidental and Chapman. (Photo Credit: Ellis Hazard)

The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams hosted the final Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tri-Meet of the campaign on Saturday, and both the Bulldog men and women swept the meet, defeating Occidental College and Chapman University on Senior Day.  The U of R men topped Occidental, 213-82, and Chapman, 214-55, while the Maroon and Gray women defeated the Tigers, 157-144, and the Panthers, 216-83.

On the successful day at which Redlands honored its seniors prior to the start of the meet, the Bulldog men racked up an impressive 12 first-place finishes and nine runner-up times, while the U of R women tallied eight winning marks and 10 second-place finishes.

Kicking off the day in the pool for Redlands was the quartet of freshman Eric Bugna (Vancouver, WA), junior Jeff Depew (Naperville, IL), senior David Ortyn (Bainbridge Island, WA), and sophomore Nelson Glendinning (Philadelphia, PA), combining for a winning time of 1:41.00 in the 200 Medley Relay and topping the next best team by more than five seconds.

Senior Patrick Wall (St. Louis, MO) then won the 1650 Free with a mark of 17:33.83, while fellow senior Andy Bone (Claremont, CA) took third with a mark of 18:52.60.

Ortyn placed first in the 200 Free (1:46.31), while junior Eric LoPrete (Beaverton, OR) and Bugna finished in second (1:48.39) and third place (1:51.26) in the event, respectively.  Throughout the course of the day, Ortyn continued to dominate the field, winning the 200 Fly (2:06.03) and the 100 Fly (52.53).

Elsewhere, Depew nabbed top honors in the 100 Back (53.48) and the 200 IM (1:56.85), while finishing in second in the 200 Breast (2:13.21).

In the 50 Free, Redlands nabbed the top-three spots, with senior Brent Reed (Dublin, CA) taking first place (21.87), Glendinning taking second (22.70), and senior Spencer Peugh (Alamo, CA) finishing in third (22.72).  Reed also uncorked the top time in the 100 Free with a mark of 48.32.

Bugna registered the top time in the 200 Back, clocking in at 2:05.60, while LoPrete won the 500 Free and touched the wall in 4:58.71.

Finishing the day in the pool for Redlands was the foursome of Peugh, LoPrete, Glendinning, and Reed, combining for a winning time in the 200 Free Relay of 1:28.84.

For the Bulldog divers, senior Steven Cully (Anaheim Hills, CA) notched a second-place mark in the three-meter event (162.85) and a fourth-place finish in the one-meter dive (152.35).  Additionally, freshman Fernando Hudson (Indian Wells, CA) finished in third place in the one-meter dive (155.25) and in fourth place in the three-meter event (151.45).

On the women's side, junior Summer Harp (San Bernardino, CA) continued her strong season with another first-place finish in a distance event, winning the 1650 Free with a time of 18:23.27.

Freshman Ellie Jaques (Covina, CA) followed that up with a first-place time in the 200 Free (1:59.10), just beating out teammate sophomore Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR) who touched the wall in 2:00.81.  Jaques continued to show well throughout the course of the meet, winning the 100 Fly (1:00.25) and the 200 IM (2:12.92) as well.

Junior Chandra Lukes (Escondido, CA) dominated the 100 Back with a winning time of 1:00.69, while taking first in the 50 Free with a mark of 25.79.

Elsewhere, in the 200 Back, the freshman duo of Savannah Long (Kennesaw, GA) and Jessica Rivers (Renton, WA) took second (2:17.85) and third (2:19.50), respectively.  In addition, junior Rachel Weinstein nabbed second place in the 200 Breast (2:33.84), while freshman Cassidy Cramton (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) finished runner-up in the 500 Free (5:26.62).

With the scores being so close coming into the final race of the day, the U of R knew it needed to win the 200 Free Relay in order to secure the overall team victory over Occidental.  The quartet of Robeznieks, Harp, Jaques, and Lukes came up clutch and combined for the top time and touched the wall in a season-best 1:40.87, clinching the team triumph for Redlands.

The Bulldog divers performed well also, with freshman Jessica Kolsky (Red Wing, MN) leading the way and nabbing second place in both the one-meter dive (187.80) and the three-meter event (189.40).

The Bulldog divers now gear up for the SCIAC Diving prelims, set for February 20.  The rest of the squad prepares for the SCIAC Championships which begin on February 21 and finish on February 23, set to take place at the Brenda Villa Aquatic Center in Commerce, CA.