HOME OF BULLDOG SWIMMING & DIVING - 11 SCIAC Championships

Bulldog Swimming & Diving Challenges Cal Baptist

The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams gave perennial NAIA powerhouse Cal Baptist University a run for its money on Saturday morning at the Thompson Aquatic Center, but it was the Lancers who prevailed in the end.

The women’s meet came down to the last event as Cal Baptist eked out a 152-147 victory over the Maroon and Gray.

Redlands set the tone early, corralling solid places in the 1-meter diving before mounting a memorable comeback triumph in the 400 medley relay. Freshman Jessie Chansler (Kirkland, WA) and sophomore McKenzie Nakamura (Kenmore, WA) swam the backstroke and breaststroke legs, respectively, before freshman Lauren Zehner (Portland, OR) uncorked a swift 57.88 100 butterfly to cut the Lancers’ lead. Freshman Allie Bollella (Palo Alto, CA) then staved off Cal Baptist’s anchor swimmer with an inspired 54.58 100 freestyle to spell out the contingent’s first-place standard of 4:07.52.

Both teams traded blows throughout the meet, and the Maroon and Gray had mounted a four-point advantage heading into the 800 freestyle relay. The Lancers engineered an early lead and, despite Zehner’s 1:56.38 performance swimming the final leg for the Bulldogs, held on for the event victory that would prove to be the deciding race.

Zehner bested the field in every event she swam, clocking the top standard in the 200 freestyle (1:58.20) and the 500 freestyle (5:15.00).

In the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, Nakamura reigned supreme, taking the 100-yard discipline in 1:10.29 before turning in a first-place standard of 2:31.89 in the 200-yard distance.

Bollella and sophomore Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) ruled the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50 and 100 in respective times of 25.24 and 55.22.

Sophomore Shelby Mann (Bainbridge Island, WA) excelled in her Redlands diving debut, finishing second in the 1-meter (143.55) before claiming first-place points in the 3-meter (156.10).

Other top performances came from Bollella in the 200 freestyle (1:59.72), freshman Caitlin Michaels (Hanover, NH) in the 100 backstroke (1:04.58), freshman Shirin Sedaghat (Boulder, CO) in the 50 freestyle (25.33), freshman Missy Utama (Walnut, CA) in the 200 breaststroke (2:35.93) and senior Melanie Loo (Waipahu, HI) in the 100 butterfly (1:03.38).

The Cal Baptist men, who won the team title at the 2009 NAIA Swimming & Diving National Championships, exhibited their collective strength by besting a talented Redlands team, 176-111.

Junior Alec Alders (Los Angeles, CA) once again flexed his distance prowess, capturing wins in each of his individual events. He covered the 1000 freestyle in a pool-record 10:02.90 before touching out Cal Baptist’s Vicente Andrade by .11 in the 500 freestyle (4:49.42).

Swimming three individual events, sophomore Tyler Harp (San Bernardino, CA) went toe-to-toe with the Lancers’ best sprinters. He offered the top standard in the 200 (1:47.43) and 50 freestyles (21.79) while also adding a second-place showing in the 100 freestyle (47.98).

Junior Tim Sanders (Pasadena, CA) fared well in the 1-meter diving, boasting a first-place score of 188.05. He also placed second in the 3-meter with a score of 161.00.

Other Bulldogs that finished among the top two included senior Scott Tsukamoto (Dana Point, CA) in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.81), freshman Chris Depew (Naperville, IL) in the 200 butterfly (2:01.22), freshman Ryan Hoy (Sacramento, CA) in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.68) and sophomore Will Houser (Woodinville, WA) in the 400 individual medley (4:33.29).

Redlands (0-1; 0-1) hosts the Bulldog Pentathlon on Saturday, Nov. 14. The meet is set to start at 9 a.m. at the Thompson Aquatic Center.