Pair of NCAA Qualifiers Highlights Day One of 2015 SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships

Photo credit: Joe Bergman
Photo credit: Joe Bergman

The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams took to the pool at the Lillian Slade Aquatic Center in Whittier on Thursday for the opening sessions of the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships.  After five completed events, the Bulldogs sit among the upper third of the standings, with the women boasting 146 points for second place and the men owning 93 points in third place.

Highlighting the day, the Maroon and Gray qualified two female divers on the one-meter board with outstanding performances.  Carrying over five scores from the morning preliminaries, sophomore Jessica Kolsky (Red Wing, MN) and freshman Lindsay Nichols (Arroyo Grande, CA) exceeded the NCAA qualification standard of 395 points.  Kolsky took third at the SCIAC meet with her total of 449.60, while Nichols amassed 429.95 points for fifth place.

The duo looks forward to competing in the NCAA Regional Diving Meet on Feb. 27-28 at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.

For the swimmers, the 200 Medley Relay of freshman Rachel Haney (Redmond, OR), sophomore Ellie Jaques (Covina, CA), junior Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR), and freshman Emily Waddell (Bellevue, WA) kicked off the competition with a school-record time of 1:47.19 to take fourth at the meet.  The Bulldogs' previous standard of 1:49.36 was established in 2006. 

The freshman quartet of Danielle Miller (Hood River, OR), Claire Stuhr (Portland, OR), Alex Amaro (Sugarland, TX), and Olivia Rock (Boulder, CO) combined forces to score quality points in the same event, touching the wall third in the "B" final with a time of 1:52.18.

Thursday's women's competition concluded with a fifth-place showing by the 800 Free Relay of freshman Linnae Rodriguez (Hollister, CA), freshman Brigid Mackey (Bellevue, WA), sophomore Cassidy Cramton (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), and senior Summer Harp (San Bernardino, CA), which touched the wall in 7:52.41.  The quartet of senior Haley Thiltgen (San Diego, CA), freshman Emily Mabrouk (Aurora, IL), Rock, and senior Rachel Weinstein (Oak Harbor, WA) put together a fourth-place time of 8:07.66 in the "B" final.

Redlands' 200 Medley Relay of sophomore Will Tyrrell (Portland, OR), freshman Harlan Long (Orland Park, IL), senior Jeff Depew (Naperville, IL), and senior Eric LoPrete (Beaverton, OR) fired off a tied-for-third-place effort of 1:32.70 to start the men's competition.  Freshman Corey Winter (Ripon, CA), freshman Payden Daly (Portland, OR), sophomore Eric Bugna (Vancouver, WA), and junior Patrick Fink (San Pedro, CA) uncorked a time of 1:36.92, which was nearly eight seconds faster than their seed time, to take fourth in the "B" final of the race.

The last men's race of the night featured a fifth-place showing by the 800 Free Relay of Tyrrell, senior David Sekula (LaGrange, IL), LoPrete, and junior Nelson Glendinning (Philadelphia, PA), which shaved off more than 10 seconds from its seed time by touching the wall in 6:58.33.  In the "B" final, Fink, freshman Brian Wright (Kent, WA), Long, and Bugna combined efforts for a third-place mark of 7:01.28 by making a near-18-second improvement upon their seed time.

Day two of the 2015 SCIAC Championships continues throughout Friday at the Lillian Slade Aquatic Center, with live streaming available at no cost at http://takeitlive.tv/15tl012/ (scroll down to see the live feed).