The University of Redlands swimming teams hosted the University of Puget Sound (WA) in the Bulldog Classic on Saturday at the Thompson Aquatic Center. While competing in the fun, co-ed, relay meet, the Maroon and Gray cruised by the Loggers in a combined score of 153-46. Redlands won every event while using a variety of swimmers in the non-conference competition to return from the Winter Break.
The Bulldogs started things off with a splash by taking home the gold and silver medals in the 400 Medley Relay. The top quartet of first-year Samuel Ayers (Orinda, CA), sophomore Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA), first-year Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA), and first-year Lucas Walker (Mountain View, CA) touched the wall in a speedy time of 4:03.56, which was about six seconds faster than Redlands' next foursome. Sophomore Jordan Convery (Fairview, OR), junior Julia Hagenbaumer (Naperville, IL), first-year Sarah Martin (Tualatin, OR, and sophomore Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA) joined forces to register a second-place time of 4:09.86.
The teams' success continued in the 600 and 100 Free relays. First, the talented quartet of first-year Tom Jansen (Pleasant Hills, CA), first-year Jacqueline Setlich (Laguna Niguel, CA), senior Jack Ivey (Albuquerque, NM), and first-year Emily Heaston (Corona, CA) out-swam the competition in the 600 Free Relay with a time of 5:51.32 for a near-seven-second advantage over the runner-up. In the 100 Free Relay, Setlich, Ayers, senior Wendy McAleer (Simi Valley, CA), and senior Aaron Bauer (Garden Grove, CA) won the race in 43.11, but first-year Makenna Parenti (Rocklin, CA), junior Carson Brett (Exeter, CA), junior Marie Sandstrom (Rhinelander, WI), and first-year Tanner Gish (La Canada, CA) closely followed in 44.67 for second place.
In the unique 200 Fly Relay, Redlands remained impressive, as Bauer, first-year Derrick Garcia (Orinda, CA), Parenti, and McAleer stepped up with a winning time of 1:44.69.
In addition, sophomore John Nelson (Parker, CO), Nakagawa, Cano, and first-year Anders Stenfjord (Shoreline, WA) prevailed in the 200 Back Relay with a gold-medal time of 1:49.53, while Jansen, first-year Madison Southmayd (Anthem, AZ), Heaston, and Convery came out victorious in the 1200 Free Relay by clocking in six seconds ahead of second place with their time of 12:46.15.
The 200 Breast Relay of Forbes, Hagenbaumer, Walker, and Martin also dominated the competition with a three-second differential in the winning time of 2:04.21.
Finally, the Bulldogs captured the top-two spots in the 400 Free Relay to finish the meet on a high note. Ayers, Nakagawa, Cano, and Bauer set the stage with their first-place mark of 3:35.65, while Brett, Setlich, Parenti, and Forbes came in second with a time of 3:43.11.
The Redlands swimming & diving teams look forward to returning to conference competition when it hosts Chapman University and Caltech in a tri-meet on Saturday, January 12, at 10:30 a.m.