U of R Swimming & Diving Celebrates Seniors with Solid Wins over Chapman and Oxy

Photo Credit: Beth Doolittle

Posted: Feb 06, 2016

The University of Redlands swimming & diving program hopped in the pool at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday morning to face off against two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foes in the Occidental College Tigers and the Chapman University Panthers. The men and women each dominated the competition by going 2-0 on a day that honored the seniors in their final home meet of the season.

The women started off the day strong by hauling in gold in the 200 Medley Relay with freshman Kate Canfield (Naperville, IL), sophomore Claire Stuhr (Portland, OR), freshman Courtney Schmidt (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA), and sophomore Olivia Rock (Boulder, CO) firing off a time of 1:53.65.

Relay victories became a trend for the women, as the 200 Free Relay of senior Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR), sophomore Emily Waddell (Bellevue, WA), Schmidt, and junior Ellie Jaques (Covina, CA) out-touched the competition with a mark of 1:42.08

In addition, the Bulldogs swept the podium in the 200 Free, with Robeznieks leading the way with a gold-medal time of 2:00.25. Junior Jessica Rivers (Renton, WA) followed shortly after with a mark of 2:01.44, while junior Cassidy Cramton (Rancho Cucamonga) rounded out the top-three showing by touching the wall in 2:04.03.

Jaques grabbed two individual top finishes, with the first coming in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:11.03. She later won the 500 Free with a mark of 5:22.11.

Rivers also hauled in two gold medals by standing atop the podium in the 100 Free with a time of 55.70, before finishing off her day with a time of 1:10.05 in the 100 Breast.

In the diving competition, Redlands gained solid contributions from Jessica Kolsky, who finished second in both events. She scored 401.30 points on the one-meter board, before recording 216.45 points on the three-meter board.

On the men's side, senior Miko Mallari (Palo Alto, CA) kicked off the winning ways by diving to a first-place finish on the one-meter board with a mark of 391.5. He then went on to score a 207.9 on the three-meter as the sole competitor.

The men swept the podium on three separate occasions, starting with the 1000 Free. Sophomore Henry Stuckenschmidt (Fresno, CA) stood atop the field with a time of 10:20.21. Sophomore Harlan Long (Orland Park, IL) followed shortly after with a mark of 10:47.29, while sophomore Sam Meyer (Seattle, WA) rounded out the sweep with a time of 10:53. 13.

Redlands produced a 1-2-3 punch in the 100 Back, as junior Will Tyrrell's (Portland, OR) winning time of 53.93. Freshman Joe Widuch (Naperville, IL) and Rowan Harrity (Troutsdale, OR) joined him on the podium with times of 54.46 and 57.54, respectfully.

The Bulldogs' final podium sweep occurred in the 500 Free, with junior Eric Bugna (Vancouver, WA) hauling in the crown with a mark of 4:58.74. Senior Patrick Fink (San Pedro, CA) followed with a 5:08.43 time, while sophomore Nick Gambatese (Corvallis, OR) completed the race in 5:12.73.

The Bulldog swimming & diving teams look forward to competing in the SCIAC Championships on Thursday, February 18, through Sunday, February 21, against all conference opponents at SPLASH! La Mirada.