The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams kicked off the 2010-11 season by competing in the Redlands Swim Invitational at the Thompson Aquatic Center and the Cal Baptist Diving Invitational at the CBU Swim Complex on Saturday morning.
Both swimming teams came away with third-place showings against Cal Baptist University, Grand Canyon University (AZ), and others. The women earned 246 points while the men captured 176, with both squads besting conference foes Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Occidental College.
For the women, sophomore Lauren Zehner (Portland, OR) recorded the team's best finish by out-touching all but one competitor with her time of 59.98 seconds in the 100 Fly. Senior Kat McIntosh (Baltimore, MD) also performed well in this race by clocking a time of 1:02.56 for fifth place.
Sophomore Caitlin Michaels (Hanover, NH) posted a third-place time of 1:02.56 in the 100 Back, as sophomore Jessie Chansler (Kirkland, WA) finished less than a half of a second behind her at 1:03.00 for fifth place. Chansler also posted a solid third-place time of 2:14.42 in the 200 Back as the team's top finisher.
Sophomore Michelle Utama (Walnut, CA) garnered a third-place showing in the 200 Fly by clocking in at 2:18.27 while also posting a fifth-place finish in the 200 Breast with her time of 2:35.65.
In addition, McIntosh came in fourth during the 50 Free with a blistering time of 25.57, while Zehner provided a fifth-place showing in the 200 Free with a time of 2:01.75 as the team's top finisher.
Junior Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) led the Bulldogs in the 100 Free with her fifth-place time of 56.11 seconds.
The women's 200 Free Relay of Zehner, senior Julie Schiering (Upland, CA), senior Kelley Cooper (San Antonio, TX) and Chansler came in third with a time of 1:45.13.
On the men's side, sophomore Chris Depew (Naperville, IL) gained a third-place time of 53.12 seconds in the 100 Fly. Depew also led the Bulldogs in the 100 Back with a time of 57.29 for fifth place overall.
In addition, junior Tyler Harp (San Bernardino, CA) provided one of the best finishes for the Bulldogs with his third-place time of 48.32 in the 100 Free, which was nearly six seconds faster than his seed time.
Junior Collin Gladys (Yorba Linda, CA) and freshman Ben Hamada (Redlands, CA) posted the fifth- and sixth-place times in the 50 Free, touching the wall in 22.81 and 22.88 seconds, respectively.
In the 200 Back, freshman Robert Macy III (Portland, OR) recorded a time of 2:08.16 for fifth place in his collegiate debut as the only Bulldog in the race.
The Bulldog divers also gained experience at this early juncture in the season by competing at the CBU Diving Invitational. Sophomores Lauren Campbell (Dana Point, CA) and Molly Duncan (Escondido, CA) debuted at their first collegiate diving event with scores of 90.80 and 84.70, respectively.
The Redlands swimming & diving teams look forward to taking on Cal Baptist University in a dual meet on Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. in Riverside.
