The University of Redlands men's and women's swimming & diving teams hit the road for Saturday's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown against the Occidental College Tigers. With 25 podium finishes, including 12 golds, the Bulldog men captured a 170.5-125.5 victory, while the women landed among the top three in 19 events but suffered a 118-179 loss.
For the men, their heavy hitters stemmed from the success of their relay teams, as these swimmers accounted for all but one of the team's first-place finishes.
The 200 Medley Relay of first-year Anders Stenfjord (Shoreline WA), first-year Lucas Walker (Mountain View, CA), sophomore Jordan Convery (Fairview, OR), and senior Aaron Bauer (Garden Grove, CA) combined efforts to start the meet off on a high note with a winning time of 1:39.09. Walker went on to touch the wall first in three more races, including the 100 Breast (1:00.56), 200 Breast (2:14.70), and 400 Individual Medley (4:17.33). Convery provided a first-place time of 10:18.00 in the 1000 Free with first-year Tom Jansen (Pleasant Hill, CA) following in second with a time of 10:22.48.
Jansen added to the team's success by capturing the gold in the 500 Free in 5:01.42, while Convery also scored important points in the 200 Fly (second – 2:02.54) and 400 IM (third – 4:29.49).
Bauer stepped up in the freestyle sprints with a first-place time of 22.03 in the 50 and a second-place showing in the 100 at 49.12. In addition, he connected the two relays as the only Bulldog to swim on both. He joined first-year Samuel Ayers (Orinda, CA), junior Carson Brett (Exeter, CA), and sophomore Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA) to produce a winning mark of 1:29.19 in the 200 Free Relay. Individually, Ayers also took first in the 100 Free (48.08) and 200 Free (1:45.45) to complete the top-of-the-podium results for the Bulldogs.
In addition, Redlands gained key points from Stenfjord, who finished second in the 100 Fly in 55.23, and Forbes, who earned the silver in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:21.62.
For the women, their 19 podium finishes translated into three golds, eight silvers, and eight bronzes. The first-place showing came right away, as the 200 Medley Relay of first-year Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA), first-year Hanna Parker (Seattle, WA), senior Wendy McAleer (Simi Valley, CA), and first-year Jacqueline Setlich (Laguna Niguel, CA) sailed to a time of 1:52.21. In addition, this quartet accounted for five other top-three showings. Nakagawa finished second in the 50 Free with a time of 25.70 and came in third in the 200 Back in 2:15.72. Setlich provided a pair of bronze showings in the 200 Free (2:04.77) and 100 Free (57.79). Finally, McAleer joined first-year Makenna Parenti (Rocklin, CA) in the 200 Fly as a formidable tandem. Parenti touched the wall in second with a time of 2:15.54, as McAleer closely followed in 2:16.52.
Furthermore, sophomore Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA) and junior Julia Hagenbaumer (Naperville, IL) repeated this lucrative combination in the 100 Breast with another second- and third-place performance. Cano touched the wall in 1:10.11, while Hagenbaumer finished in 1:11.70.
The Bulldog divers hauled in huge points, with junior Jacob Miner (Antioch, CA) winning both men's events and junior Sami Scarano (Boulder, CO) taking both women's events. Miner scored 264.80 points on the three-meter board and 254.95 on the one-meter, as Scarano registered a three-meter score of 223.25 and a one-meter mark of 218.95.
Redlands faces Cal Lutheran University and Whittier College in the final SCIAC competition before the championships. This tri-meet takes place on Saturday, February 9, at 10:30 a.m. in Whittier.