The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams continued to build upon their strong starts to the 2012-13 season by sweeping away the competition at the Redlands Tri-Meet on Saturday. The Bulldog men cruised past the Panthers of Chapman University, 172-40, and edged out a tough Cal Lutheran squad by a score of 124.16–106.83. The Redlands women registered a 149-91 victory over Chapman and defeated the Regals of Cal Lutheran by a 140–102 margin.
Highlighted by a number of strong individual performances and multiple first-place efforts, the men remained perfect in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition with Saturday's results, while the women improved to 2-1 during conference action.
On the men's side, the Maroon and Gray started off the swimming portion of the meet with a bang, earning both first and second place in the 200 Medley Relay. The first-place quartet of sophomore Jeff Depew (Naperville, IL), junior Christian Ogawa (Mira Mesa, CA), junior Brent Reed (Dublin, CA) and junior Quinn Curl (San Mateo, CA) swam an impressive time of 1:39.91, beating out the other Bulldog relay team by 0.19 seconds.
In the 1000 Free, sophomore David Sekula (LaGrange, IL) smashed the rest of the field and uncorked a career-best time of 10:10.34 in a first-place performance.
While helping Redlands to collect first-place marks in all of the freestyle events on the day, senior Chris Depew (Naperville, IL) won the 500 Free (4:50.22) and sophomore Eric LoPrete (Beaverton, OR) out-touched the opponents in the 200 Free (1:49.28). Additionally, freshman Nelson Glendinning (Lafayette Hills, PA) and junior Clint Freeman (Brentwood, CA) finished in a three-way tie for first with a Kingsmen swimmer in the 100 Free (50.18), while senior Matt Zaggy (St. Louis, MO) shared the medalist honors in the 50 Free with a speedy time of 22.44.
Elsewhere, Reed picked up another first-place mark by winning the 100 Fly with a swift time of 54.88 seconds. In the 100 Back, J. Depew paced the field and won the event in 55.57.
Additionally, junior David Ortyn (Bainbridge Island, WA) took second in the 200 IM, recording a time of 2:03.16, while seniorPatrick Roth (Cottonwood Heights, UT) picked up a second-place mark in the 100 Breast by touching the wall 1:04.41.
Representing the Bulldogs on the diving boards, junior Steven Cully (Anaheim Hills, CA) took second in the three-meter (157.60) and third in the one-meter (132.55) dives.
The Redlands women also opened the meet on the right foot, as the quartet of senior Caitlin Michaels (Hanover, NH), sophomore Rachel Weinstein (Coupeville, WA), senior Lauren Zehner (Portland, OR) and senior Shirin Sedaghat (Boulder, CO) combined for a first-place performance of 1:55.41 in the 200 Medley Relay.
Sophomore Chandra Lukes (Escondido, CA) built on her early-season success in the sprinting events, winning both the 50 Free (24.99) and 100 Free (55.00). She led off a one-two Bulldog effort with Sedaghat finishing second (56.82) in the shorter race.
In the 200 IM, senior Lauren Craig (Newcastle, CA) and sophomore Haley Thiltgen (San Diego, CA) claimed second (2:19.32) and third place (2:21.77), respectively.
Zehner highlighted the 100 Fly with a winning time of 1:00.65, while senior Kendall Irish (College Park, MD) took third place in the event (1:03.53).
The Maroon and Gray continued to rake in the first-place showings when Michaels uncorked a season-best time of 1:02.59 in the 100 Back.
In the final individual event of the meet, Weinstein outswam all other competitors in the 100 Breast to take home the medalist honors with a time of 1:11.70.
Furthermore, the U of R women closed out the meet with an impressive mark in the 200 Free Relay. Sedaghat, senior Jessica Medvec (Tualatin, OR), freshman Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR) and Lukes combined forces for a time of 1:42.83, which was good enough for another first-place decision for the Bulldogs.
In the dives for the women, Redlands senior Lauren Campbell (Dana Point, CA) captured second place in the one-meter event with a mark of 156.80, while freshman Akari Matsumoto (Redmond, WA) came in a close third at 153.25. In the three-meter dive, senior Lindsey Zehner (Portland, OR) was the top-scoring Bulldog, totaling 154.15 points for fourth place.
The Redlands swimming & diving teams return to action on Saturday, January 12, when they host Caltech in a SCIAC showdown. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with diving, followed by swimming at approximately 11 a.m.
