The University of Redlands men's and women's swimming and diving teams hosted the Concordia University-Irvine Eagles on Saturday morning at the Thompson Aquatic Center. In tight finishes throughout the day, both the men and the women's teams pulled out exciting wins. The Bulldog men won by a score of 103-102, while the women earned a 122-101 victory.
Overall, Redlands captured 11 first-place showings in a fine outing.
Redlands men set the tone early with a winning time of 1:38.51 in the 200 Medley Relay. Seniors Matt Skinner (Lakewood, CO), and Carson Brett (Exeter, CA) and juniors Jordan Convery (Fairview, OR), and Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA) combined talents to take first.
Sophomore Samuel Ayers (Orinda, CA) had a great day in the water, taking the top spot in the 100 and 200 Free, touching the wall in 47.36 and 1:48.09 respectively.
Skinner followed that up winning the 100 Fly stopping the clock at 53.62. Forbes took first again, this time as an individual in the 100 Breast. He topped the competitors in an extremely tight race, finishing in 1:00.74.
The Bulldogs also earned a top-two finish in the 200 Free Relay. The quartet made up of Ayers, senior Michael Talag (Lakewood, CA), junior Jack McCormick (Santa Rosa, CA), and first-year Blake Eddow (Corona, CA) took top honors with a time 1:27.61.
Redlands women matched the men's first-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay, with a quick time of 1:51.98. Senior Julia Hagenbaumer (Naperville, IL) and sophomores Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA), Makenna Parenti (Rocklin, CA), and Jacqueline Setlich (Laguna Niguel, CA) made up the winning foursome.
These individuals made up the other four first-place victories on the women's side.
Hagenbaumer took the top spot in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:08.48. Junior Olivia Cano (Dublin, CA) and sophomore Sarah Martin (Tualatin, OR) followed with a two-three punch that added key points in the Bulldogs victory. Cano finished in 1:09.74 while Martin stopped the clock at 1:09.87.
Nakagawa beat out the competition in the 100 Back with a winning time of 1:01.58 while Parenti hailed victorious in the 100 Fly. She quickly touched the wall in 59.89, under a second before her competitor in the close race.
Setlich rounded out the quality times taking the top spot in the 100 Free. She finished the race in a quick 56.77.
Senior diver Sami Scarano (Boulder, CO) added crucial points scoring 193.72 on the one-meter board and 204.07 on the three-meter board.
Bulldog swim and dive jumps back into action when they head to Whittier next Saturday, November 9. The meet is slated to start at 10:30 a.m.