HOME OF BULLDOG SWIMMING & DIVING - 11 SCIAC Championships

Redlands Swimming & Diving Sinks La Verne

Even with most swimmers swimming “off” events, the University of Redlands swimming & diving teams blew out the University of La Verne on Saturday in La Verne.

The Bulldog women overpowered a small Leopard squad and emerged victorious for the fifth time this year, winning by a 174-44 score.

Senior Jenna Lyons (Whittier, CA) started the meet out on the boards and edged out her Leopard counterparts, taking the 1-meter with a 178.95 score and the 3-meter with a 180.35 score.

Taking on the 200 freestyle, freshman Joy Corona (Lake Forest, IL) touched first, tapping in at 2:09.74.

Despite deviating from her usual breaststroke routine, freshman Jenny Bates (Littleton, CO) ripped through the water in 27.25 in the 50 freestyle and took first.

Sporting versatility in the four strokes, sophomore Jo Navarro (Chandler, AZ) clocked the top standard in the 200 individual medley (2:22.13).

No one could keep up with sophomore Michelle Camburn (Sunnyvale, CA) in the 200 butterfly as she took the event with relative ease, clocking a 2:16.39.

In the four-lap 100 freestyle, freshman K.C. Hughes (Gig Harbor, WA) edged Bates, checking in at 58.41.

Sophomore Kayla Desai (Lakewood, CO) continued to impress with her seemingly effortless transition from event to event and won the 200 backstroke with a 2:20.30 mark.

A 500 freestyle field that consisted of only Redlands swimmers gave the Bulldogs yet another sweep. Sophomore Emily Bennewitz (Edina, MN) paced her teammates and garnered first-place points in the event (5:38.50).

Finally, senior Lily Landeros (El Cajon, CA) provided the gold standard in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:50.34.

The Maroon and Gray captured both relay event wins as well. Junior Katie Heer (Scottsdale, AZ), Navarro, sophomore Kat McIntosh (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) and sophomore Kelley Cooper (San Antonio, TX) won by seven seconds in the 400 medley relay (4:21.58) while the quartet of junior Danielle Caver (Highland, CA), freshman Whitney Marsh (Folsom, CA), Hughes and senior Carey Best (La Quinta, CA) finished first out of four relays that finished within less than a second of each other in the 200 freestyle relay (1:51.12).

Providing second-place finishes for the Bulldogs included Hughes in the 200 freestyle (2:10.48), Desai in the 200 individual medley (2:23.78), Navarro in the 200 butterfly (2:21.55), Bates in the 100 freestyle (58.93), senior Hillary Nicholson (Santa Cruz, CA) in the 500 freestyle (5:43.25) and freshman Yu Kotaki (Yokohama, Japan) in the 200 breaststroke (2:54.82).

On the men’s side of the meet, the Leopards provided little resistance as Redlands cruised to a 177-64 win.

In the 3-meter diving event, sophomore Tim Sanders (Pasadena, CA) supplied first-place points for the Maroon and Gray, earning a score of 197.25.

Freshman Mike Camp (Palos Verdes Estates) created separation early and cruised to an 18:01.60 victory in the meet’s first individual swimming event, the 1650 freestyle.

Six Redlands student-athletes battled for the top spot in the 200 freestyle, but it was junior Clint Stevenson (South Jordan, UT) who stopped the clock first (1:53.77).

Another Bulldog sweep came by means of the 200 individual medley as sophomore Sonny Morin (Seattle, WA) recorded a 2:14.65 time.

With an NCAA “B” cut already under his belt, sophomore Miran Terzic (Mostar, Bosna i Hercegovina) provided the firepower in the 50 freestyle, pounding the wall at 21.61.

For the first time this year, senior Marc Hicks (Granada Hills, CA) took on the 200 butterfly and won in lifetime-best fashion, checking in at 2:10.67.

No one could keep up with freshman Steven Zarian (Superior, CO) in the 100 freestyle as the talented freshman sprinter won with a 50.75 standard.

Sophomore Alec Alders (Los Angeles, CA) proved once again that he can swim any event at a high level when he used a solid front half to nab first in the 200 backstroke (2:03.75).

Coming from behind, freshman Will Houser (Woodinville, WA) notched a season-best 500 freestyle time, taking the event in 5:02.95.

The 400 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay both went the Bulldogs’ way as the medley contingent of senior Buddy Olds (Murrieta, CA), Alders, freshman Tyler Harp (San Bernardino, CA) and junior Sheldon Gruendl (Danville, CA) won with a 3:51.39 time while junior Brendan Meaney (Palm Desert, CA), Stevenson, Zarian and junior John Floersch (San Jose, CA) chalked up a first-place showing in the freestyle relay (1:32.88).

Finishing in second place for the Bulldogs included Sanders in the 1-meter (160.80), junior Justin Wolf (Fullerton, CA) in the 1650 freestyle (18:55.88), Floersch in the 200 freestyle (1:54.15), Harp in the 50 freestyle (22.30), freshman Jesse Lieberman (Princeton, NJ) in the 200 individual medley (2:18.30), sophomore Mike Reilly (Coral Gables, FL) in the 200 butterfly (2:14.03), Lieberman in the 100 freestyle (53.26), sophomore Andrew Smith-Jones in the 200 backstroke (2:10.18), junior Ned Voytovich (Salt Lake City, UT) in the 500 freestyle (5:06.60) and Morin in the 200 breaststroke (2:36.21).

Redlands (5-2, 5-1 SCIAC; 6-1, 6-0 SCIAC) closes out its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) dual-meet season with a meet against rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday at the Thompson Aquatic Center. Diving is set to start at 10 a.m. while swimming is slated to commence at 11 a.m.