Bulldog Swimming Unleashes Quality Marks at Winter Invite

Bulldog Swimming Unleashes Quality Marks at Winter Invite

The University of Redlands swimming program took on tough competition at the 2017 Winter Invite at Southgate on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  The Bulldog men impressed in the high-caliber outing by taking second with 1,344.50 points as the top Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) school out of four represented.  The Redlands women earned 722 points to finish fifth behind three NCAA Division II opponents and one conference foe.

Among the men's highlights, the Maroon and Gray captured nine first-place efforts and nine additional top-three showings. 

Senior Brian Wright (Kent, WA) enjoyed a solid three-day performance that landed him at the top of the podium in multiple events.  He won the 200 Individual Medley (1:55.02) with the only sub-two-minute time of the event. Individually, he also won the 100 Breast (58.58) and 200 Breast (2:08.83).  Furthermore, Wright put the exclamation on an outstanding weekend by contributing to the first-place quartets in four relays.  He joined forces with sophomore Matt Skinner (Lakewood, CO), first-year Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA), and junior Aaron Bauer (Garden Grove, CA) to win the 200 Free Relay in 1:25.96, before teaming up with senior Corey Winter (Ripon, CA), Skinner, and Bauer in the 400 Medley Relay that touched the wall in 3:31.34.  Bauer, sophomore Carson Brett (Exeter, CA), first-year Rafael Zasas (Johannesburg, South Africa), and Wright fired off a time of 7:04.47 to come away victorious in the 800 Free Relay, while the 400 Free Relay of Wright, sophomore Michael Talag (Lakewood, CA), Forbes, and Bauer uncorked a blistering time of 3:11.05 for first place.

In addition, Bauer added a gold-medal time of 47.08 in the 100 Free and took second in the 50 Free by touching the wall in 21.39.  Skinner joined him on the podium in the 50 Free with his third-place time of 22.02.

Winter topped the competition in the 200 Fly with the only sub-two-minute showing when he swam a 1:58.22 to win the event.

Zasas added a second-place result in the 200 Free (1:44.71) and a third-place time in the 1650 Free (16:53.32). 

Finally, the 200 Medley Relay of first-year John Nelson (Parker, CO), Wright, Skinner, and Bauer added to the Bulldogs' strong performance by posting a time of 1:35.80 for second place.

The women battled the high level of competition and earned a variety of top-five finishes.  First-year Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA) registered the Bulldogs' only third-place result of the meet when she touched the wall in 2:28.56 during the 200 Breast.  Sophomore Julia Hagenbaumer (Naperville, IL) provided a fifth-place time of 2:30.42 in that same race.

In addition, Cano swam the 400 IM in 4:47.32 for fifth place, while first-year Karina Lanning (Cupertino, CA) registered a fourth-place time of 2:11.50 in the 200 Fly.

Finally, sophomore Courtney Gray (Yucaipa, CA) earned sixth place in the 1650 Free by clocking in at 19:50.41.

Redlands gained a pair of fourth-place performances in the relays.  Cano, Hagenbaumer, Lanning, and senior Olivia Rock (Boulder, CO) combined forces in the 200 Medley Relay that touched the wall in 1:54.65.  Cano, Rock, Lanning, and junior Wendy McAleer (Simi Valley, CA) teamed up in the 400 Free Relay that earned a time of 3:44.99.

The Bulldogs take a break from competition until resuming conference action with a tri-meet on Saturday, January 13, at 10 a.m.  Redlands faces Occidental College and Chapman University in Orange.