HOME OF BULLDOG SWIMMING & DIVING - 11 SCIAC Championships

Terzic Nearly Misses Provisional Cut, Bulldog Men’s, Women’s Aquatic Teams Handle Whittier

The University of Redlands men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams took care of visiting Whittier College with ease on Friday afternoon as the men won 161-51 and the women triumphed 183-28.

Sophomore Miran Terzic (Mostar, Bosna i Hercegovina) opened his Bulldog swimming career in grand fashion, falling just .04 of a second short of the provisional qualifying time in the 50 freestyle for the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Terzic covered the two-lap splash and dash in 21.21, winning by more than a second and a half. In addition, he uncorked a blistering 20.43 50 freestyle split anchoring Redlands’ “A” 200 medley relay and took first in the 100 backstroke (57.90).

Another new face notched two individual victories as freshman Tyler Harp (San Bernardino, CA) took the top spot in both the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. He passed teammate junior John Floersch (San Jose, CA) on the final 50 of the 200 freestyle and turned in a first-place standard of 1:52.04. Coming out fast out of the gates, he used an opening 50 split of 26.54 to gain the top finish in the 100 butterfly (56.99).

Starting to come into his own in the 100 breaststroke, freshman Mike Grant (Weston, MA) posted a 1:05.15 win to earn a season-best swim.

Following his runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle, Floersch took to the pool again in the 100 freestyle and checked in at 49.11 for first.

The 400 individual medley presented a spectacular race as senior Marc Hicks (Granada Hills, CA) and freshman Will Houser (Woodinville, WA) battled for the win. Hicks came from four seconds down heading into the breaststroke leg and passed Houser on the second-to-last wall, winning with a 4:30.10 time. Houser took second in 4:30.21.

Swimming his primary event, sophomore Alec Alders (Los Angeles, CA) corralled a swift 1650 freestyle mark, tapping in with a winning time of 17:11.28.

In the 3-meter diving event, junior Matt Adams (Vista, CA) recorded the men’s top score of 181.40, easily defeating his Whittier counterpart by more than 75 points.

Both relays went in favor of the Bulldogs as well. The quartet of junior Chad Kyffin (San Jose, CA), Grant, freshman Jesse Lieberman (Princeton, NJ) and Terzic posted a first-place time in the 200 medley relay in 1:42.10 clocking. Senior Buddy Olds (Murrieta, CA), Floersch, freshman Steve Zarian (Superior, CO) and Harp combined for a 1:29.71 finish in the 200 freestyle relay, which proved more than enough to take first.

Second-place finishes for the maroon and gray included junior Sheldon Gruendl (Danville, CA) in the 1650 freestyle (17:59.69), Floersch in the 200 freestyle (1:52.75), Zarian in the 50 freestyle (22.88), Houser in the 400 individual medley (4:30.21) and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.48), sophomore Mike Reilly (Coral Gables, FL) in the 100 butterfly (57.46), Adams in the 1-meter (189.35) and junior Ian Starkie (Arroyo Grande, CA) in the 100 backstroke (58.06).

The Redlands women provided too much quality depth against the Poets and handily won almost every event.

Sophomore Kat McIntosh (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) hopped out to an early lead in the 200 freestyle and carried it through the home stretch, nabbing the top place in the event with a 2:04.08 time. She paced the field once more in the 100 butterfly, turning in the gold standard of 1:02.16.

Another close race ensued in the women’s 400 individual medley as a similar dual between teammates marked one of the more exciting races of the meet. After trading leads back and forth, freshman McKenzie Nakamura (Kenmore, WA) passed sophomore Tory Haynes (Valley Center, CA) on the breaststroke leg and staved her off for the remainder of the race, placing first in 4:54.10. In addition, Nakamura swam an event-best mark in the 100 breaststroke, stopping the clock at 1:13.00.

The distance corps found a new ace in sophomore Kayla Desai (Lakewood, CO) as this season marks her first at the college level. Desai led the entirety of the 1650 freestyle and touched the wall first at 19:21.69.

Sporting her sprint talents, freshman Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) muscled her way to a 26.20 victory in the 50 freestyle.

Junior Danielle Caver (Highland, CA) took care of the other sprint freestyle event, earning first-place points in the 100 freestyle with a 58.43.

Finally, senior Hillary Nicholson (Santa Cruz, CA) rounded out the individual event winners with a 1:04.59 100 backstroke, which won by more than four seconds.

Senior Jenna Lyons (Whittier, CA) dominated both diving events, scoring the top mark in the 3-meter (190.80) as well as the 1-meter (210.75).

The meet’s lopsidedness carried over to the relay events as well. Nicholson, sophomore Jo Navarro (Chandler, AZ), McIntosh and junior Leah Egbert (Antioch, CA) put together a 1:58.27 200 medley relay win while the foursome of freshman Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR), sophomore Michelle Camburn (Sunnyvale, CA), freshman K.C. Hughes (Gig Harbor, WA) and freshman Whitney Marsh (Folsom, CA) engineered the women’s top 200 freestyle relay (1:46.22).

Also scoring second-place points were sophomore Emily Bennewitz (Edina, MN) in the 1650 freestyle (19:26.86), Nippert in the 200 freestyle (2:04.45), freshman Jenny Bates (Littleton, CO) in the 50 freestyle (26.80), Haynes in the 400 individual medley (4:54.26), junior Chelsea Hamilton (Parker, CO) in the 3-meter (157.95) and the 1-meter (149.80), Marsh in the 100 butterfly (1:02.66), Hughes in the 100 freestyle (58.83), Egbert in the 100 backstroke (1:08.63) and sophomore Kelley Cooper (San Antonio, TX) in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.43).

The Bulldogs take on Cal Lutheran University tomorrow at the Thompson Aquatic Center for a 10:30 a.m. start.