The University of Redlands men's and women's swimming teams completed their second day of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships at the Brenda Villa Aquatic Center on Friday with solid results. The men protected their third-place standing with an overall score of 224, while the women upped their game to jump two spots into fifth with a score of 166.
During the morning preliminaries, senior Aaron Bauer (Garden Grove, CA) shined in the 50 Free by finishing only .03 seconds behind the leader with a time of 20.56 to advance to the finals later in the evening. He went on to earn a podium finish in third place with a time of 20.78 in an incredibly tight race. With the result, he also gains All-SCIAC honors for the first time in this event. In addition, junior Michael Talag (Lakewood, CA) and first-year Samuel Ayers (Orinda, CA) battled it out in a swim-off to determine the last slot among the consolation final in the 50 Free. It was Talag who advanced to the evening swim. There, he made the most of the opportunity by unleashing a time of 21.45 for fourth place.
In the prelims of the 200 Individual Medley, first-year Lucas Walker (Mountain View, CA) advanced to the final with a time of 1:53.33. Later that day, he repeated his sixth-place performance with a mark of 1:53.38.
The 200 Free Relay of junior Carson Brett (Exeter, CA), Talag, Ayers, and Bauer capped off the solid day with a fourth-place time of 1:24.34 in the final. Junior Matt Skinner (Lakewood, CO), senior Lucas Ulmer (Camas, WA), junior Kyle Jackson (Naperville, IL), and sophomore Eric Forbes (Ladera Ranch, CA) also put together a strong showing with a second-place time of 1:25.25 during the consolation final.
For the women, sophomore August Key (Albuquerque, NM) touched the wall in 2:09.50 for sixth place in the 200 IM final, which beat out her prelim time of 2:10.50. Senior Wendy McAleer (Simi Valley, CA) fired off a time of 2:10.91 in the consolation final to finish second and earn valuable points for the Bulldogs.
In the 50 Free, first-year Sydney Nakagawa (Vancouver, WA) uncorked a time of 24.41 to place third in the consolation final while also bettering her time bu 0.38 from the morning swim.
To close out the night, first-year Makenna Parenti (Rocklin, CA), Nakagawa, McAleer, and Key joined forces for a fifth-place time of 1:38.11 in the final of the 200 Free Relay.
Redlands looks forward to day three of the SCIAC Championships on Saturday, February 23, beginning with the morning preliminaries at 9 a.m. The Bulldogs take on the competition in the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, and 400 Medley Relay in tomorrow's action.