With the return of Head Coach Leslie Whittemore to the helm of both teams, the Bulldogs began a new chapter in the impressive history of the University of Redlands swimming & diving program during the 2015-16 season. Amidst a new style, refreshed outlook, and plenty of talent, the Maroon and Gray put together a pair of third-place showings at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships, received the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year award, tallied multiple schools records and All-Conference times, and saw its sole national qualifier earn All-America Honorable Mention in an impressive NCAA debut.
Redlands jumped into action at the beautiful Thompson Aquatic Center by hosting the always fun Bulldog Pentathlon in mid-October. Freshman Zack Amendola (Palos Heights, IL) impressed in his first-ever meet for the U of R by placing first in the men's event. Aside from producing the best overall time, Amendola touched first in the 100 Free with a time of 48.83, while blasting the competition in the 100 Breast with a winning mark of 1:01.43. He also reigned supreme in the 100 Individual Medley by touching the wall in 54.97.
Following a pair of third-place showings at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, the Bulldogs headed to Pasadena for the opening SCIAC meet of the season by taking on the Caltech Beavers. With 24 first-place performances between the teams, the Redlands men cruised to a 197-92 victory, while the women came away with a 206-70 triumph.
Despite a tough loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in early December, the U of R continued its steady road of preparation for the SCIAC Championships by competing in the high-caliber Collegiate Winter Invite. For the women, junior Ellie Jaques (Covina, CA) provided the team's lone first-place finish with a solid mark of 4:33.01 in the 400 IM. In addition, junior Eric Bugna (Vancouver, WA), sophomore Harlan Long (Orland Park, IL), Amendola, and sophomore Brian Wright (Kent, WA) represented the men by winning the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:37.26.
After the start of the New Year, Redlands returned to action with the La Verne-Whittier-Redlands Tri-Meet, during which both teams notched a pair of conference victories. The Bulldog women jumped out to a solid start with quality performances by the divers. Senior Akari Matsumoto (Redmond, WA) took first on the three-meter board with a score of 213.95, while junior Jessica Kolsky (Red Wing, MN) came in second with a total of 187.10. Sophomore Lindsay Nichols (Arroyo Grande, CA) impressed in the one-meter competition with her first-place tally of 216.80, but Kolsky was not far behind with a score of 214.90 for second place. Matsumoto completed a solid day on the diving boards for the Bulldogs with her 204.45 total. The men never trailed against Whittier but were pushed to the very end against the Leopards, with the final score being determined by the results of the 200 Free Relay. With the win on the line, the Bulldogs gained a big showing from freshman Joe Widuch (Naperville, IL), senior Patrick Fink (San Pedro, CA), freshman Lucas Ulmer (Camas, WA), and Wright, who joined forces to fire off a time of 1:29.61 to place first against La Verne in the head-to-head scoring. Sophomore Tristan Wheeler (Wellington, FL), sophomore Corey Winter (Ripon, CA), sophomore Ryan Shuman (Boulder, CO), and freshman Aidan Coon (New York, NY) provided key points as well by clocking in at 1:35.37 in the same race.
A week later, the Bulldogs hosted the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in their first home meet since the Bulldog Pentathlon. Among multiple season-best times, the Redlands men tallied six top-two showings but fell short in a 77-201 decision, while the Bulldog women registered nine first- or second-place finishes in a 101-179 loss. Jaques impressed amidst the tough competition by earning a pair of first-place times and a second-place showing. She won the 100 Breast with a time of 1:08.76, which was more than two seconds faster than the runner-up from Pomona-Pitzer. She touched the wall second in the 100 Free while notching a season-best time of 55.12. Finally, she capped off a solid day by winning the 200 Breast with another season-best time to head up a podium sweep for the Bulldogs. For the men, Bugna and Winter recorded the only other first-place showings for the Maroon and Gray. Bugna won the 200 Fly in 2:01.97, while Winter landed atop the podium in the 200 Back by out-touching the competition with a time of 2:04.32.
Redlands battled it out with in-region opponent Trinity University (TX) on January 23 but settled for split results. The women came out firing on all cylinders, as they gained eight gold-medal performances on the day to earn the victory. The 200 Medley Relay of freshman Kate Canfield (Naperville, IL), junior Jessica Rivers (Renton, WA), Jaques, and senior Lauren Robeznieks (Tigard, OR) got things started by uncorking off a first-place time of 1:52.31. Jaques followed that up by out-touching the competition in the 200 Free with her time of 1:59.34, before Canfield recorded a first-place mark of 1:00.91 in the 100 Back. Rivers continued the Bulldogs' solid start by taking the gold in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:10.50. Freshman Courtney Schmidt (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) joined in the winning action by touching the wall first in the 200 Fly (2:17.37).
The following weekend, the Bulldog women continued to shine with an exciting win over Cal Lutheran University that included 24 top-three finishes on the day, including seven gold, nine silver, and eight bronze medals. This was highlighted by podium-sweeping efforts in the 200 IM, 100 Back, and 100 Breast, with sophomore Claire Stuhr (Portland, OR) leading the charge in the two of these showings. With a time of 2:14.52, she won the 200 IM, before unleashing a time of 1:10.98 to take home the gold in the 100 Breast. She also contributed to the winning 200 Medley Relay that touched the wall first in 2:01.50.
Redlands' final home meet of the season allowed the Maroon and Gray to celebrate Senior Day with solid wins over Chapman University and Occidental College. The women's relay teams impressed throughout the meet, as highlighted by the 200 Free Relay of Robeznieks, sophomore Emily Waddell (Bellevue, WA), Schmidt, and Jaques that out-touched the competition with a mark of 1:42.08. Individually, 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. The men swept the podium on three separate occasions, starting with the 1000 Free. Sophomore Henry Stuckenschmidt (Fresno, CA) stood atop the competition with a time of 10:20.21. Long 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 set the tone for the Maroon and Gray. Widuch 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 Bugna hauling in the gold with a mark of 4:58.74. Fink followed with a 5:08.43-time, while sophomore Nick Gambatese (Corvallis, OR) completed the race in 5:12.73.
The regular season culminated in the Bulldogs' third-place performances at the SCIAC Championships, which took place over four days at SPLASH! La Mirada Aquatics Center. The meet kicked off with the women's 200 Medley Relay of Canfield, Rivers, Jaques, and Robeznieks uncorking a silver-medal, school-record time of 1:46.51 in the "A" final. As a result of their top-three showing, they collected the Bulldogs' first All-SCIAC nods of the meet.
The Maroon and Gray's top finish of day two came in the 200 IM, as Jaques fired off a second-place time of 2:07.17 to collect All-SCIAC honors. On the men's side, Amendola added a third-place finish in the same event, clocking in at 1:53.16 and earning All-Conference recognition.
On the third day of the meet, Amendola raced to a second-place time of 4:01.36 to add another All-SCIAC honor to his name. For the women, Jaques set a new SCIAC meet record in the morning preliminaries and then reset it in the final to take home the 400 IM title with a time of 4:30.11. This also broke the Bulldogs' school record. Tyrrell swam a third-place time of 51.55 in the 100 Back to collect All-SCIAC honors, while Canfield added to the Bulldogs' All-Conference hardware with her third-place performance in the same event with a time of 58.07. Canfield, Jaques, Schmidt, and Robeznieks broke the school record in the 400 Medley Relay to earn All-Conference honors with their third-place time of 3:54.67.
The final day of excitement included Kolsky's All-SCIAC performance in the three-meter diving competition with her third-place score of 386.35. Highlighting the Maroon and Gray's day-four swim success, Canfield collected All-SCIAC accolades in the 200 Back by clocking a second-place time of 2:06.11.
After an impressive inaugural SCIAC Championship meet, Amendola was honored with the SCIAC Male Newcomer of the Year.
About a month later, Jaques represented the Bulldogs at the 2016 NCAA Division III Swimming Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a school-record showing on her first day of competition. During the morning preliminaries, she broke the Redlands record in the 200 IM with a career-best time of 2:04.93, which bettered the Bulldog standard by 1.66 seconds. The previous record was established by Cathleen Penney in 2006. Despite having the 36th-fastest qualifying time at the national meet, Jaques swam the 13th-fastest time in the preliminaries to move on to the consolation final, during which she tallied a time of 2:06.61 to finish 16th overall.
Jaques capped off her first-ever NCAA Championship appearance by registering another school-record time at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. During the preliminaries of the 400 IM, she bettered her own Redlands standard by touching the wall in 4:29.61 for 15th place for a spot in the consolation finals. When she returned to the pool for her final swim of the season, she finished 16th overall with a time of 4:33.23. With her top-16 finishes in the 400 IM and 200 IM, she became an Honorable Mention All-American while joining a long list of Redlands' national competitors since the early 1990s.
Amidst new leadership and a reimagined team culture, the Bulldog swimming & diving program put together a solid first season in Whittemore's second stint as head coach at Redlands. Although saying goodbye to the seniors is never easy, the Maroon and Gray holds high hopes for continued success with the return of a talented corps of veterans that strives to exude the "LesGoDawgs" philosophy of the 2015-16 season.