A small but formidable crew of swimmers represented the University of Redlands well at the 2018 Winter Invite throughout the weekend. After uncorking solid times in the morning preliminaries, the Bulldogs upped the ante during Sunday's finals to end the meet on a high note at the Patricia G. Mitchell Swim Stadium in South Gate.
First-year Tom Jansen (Pleasant Hills, CA) and sophomore Jordan Convery (Fairview, OR) initiated the quality outing for the Bulldogs by taking second and third, respectively, in the 1650 Free with their fastest times of the season. Jansen touched the wall in 16:28.27, while Convery followed in 16:52.51.
Sophomore John Nelson (Parker, CO) impressed in the 200 Back by eliminating more than six seconds from his prelim time to finish fourth in 2:00.73.
Redlands continued its success during the 100 Free, with first-year Samuel Ayers (Orinda, CA) and senior Aaron Bauer (Garden Grove, CA) taking the top two spots on the podium. Ayers won the race with a season-best time of 46.77, as Bauer registered another impressive mark of 47.15. In addition, sophomore Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA) bettered his prelim time in the 200 Breast by nearly 10 seconds to finish second in the final with a mark of 2:15.77.
Finally, the Bulldog men's outstanding day ended with a gold-medal performance by Ayers, Forbes, junior Bryce Hurick (Exeter, CA), and Bauer in the 400 Free, as the quartet combined efforts for a time of 3:12.85, which was nearly five seconds ahead of second place.
Redlands' women produced three of the top-four finishers in the 200 Breast to highlight their solid day. First-year Sarah Martin (Tualatin, OR) led the charge with her second-place time of 2:26.20, which was nearly four seconds better than her morning swim. Sophomore Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA) quickly followed in third by touching the wall in 2:26.24, while junior Julia Hagenbaumer (Naperville, IL) took fourth with a time of 2:27.73.
First-year Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA) also showed improvement during the night competition, as she shaved off nearly three seconds to finish second in the consolation final of the 200 Back. She completed the speedy race in 2:09.99 for a season-best mark.
Finally, first-year Makenna Parenti (Rocklin, CA) held strong in the 200 Fly by uncorking a season-best time of 2:12.82 to take sixth among a final heat that was made up of NCAA Division I and II competitors.
Redlands swimming & diving looks forward to hosting Chapman University and Caltech in a SCIAC tri-match at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday, January 12, at 10:30 a.m.