The Seattle University men's swim team faced some of the best competition in the region at the Toshiba Classic, hosted by UC San Diego at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool Thursday and Friday.
The team got off to a good start Thursday, as the quartet of Jordan Anderson (Newberg, Ore.), Chris Fulton (Snohomish, Wash.), Murray Longbotham (Mercer Island, Wash.), and Jeff Tibbals (Moscow, Idaho) finished fourth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.65. Senior Bryson Chiu (Carmel, Ind.) qualified for the "B" final in the 200 individual medley, finishing 16th overall after times of 1:54.57 (preliminaries) and 1:54.88 (finals).
In the 50 freestyle, both Anderson and Fulton reached the "B" final, with Anderson finishing 12th overall with times of 20.83 seconds (preliminaries) and 20.85 seconds (finals) and Fulton earning a 16th-place finish with times of 21.29 seconds (preliminaries) and 21.55 seconds (finals).
The first day of competition concluded with the combination of Chiu, Chris Lynch (Melbourne, Australia), Eric Pedack (Snohomish, Wash.), and Anderson finishing in 10th place in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:31.77. Chiu, Lynch, Anderson, and Fulton began the second day of action by finishing in ninth place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:35.06.
Individually, James Gilmore (Eugene, Ore.) won the "D" final of the 400 individual medley, finishing 25th overall with a time of 4:09.17, with Joe Wertz (Richland, Wash.) right behind him with a 26th-place finish in 4:10.67. Longbotham finished in 14th place in the 100 butterfly after posting times of 50.93 seconds (preliminaries) and 50.44 seconds (finals). In the "D" final, Anderson finished first for a 25th-place finish overall with times of 52.16 seconds (preliminaries) and 51.16 seconds (finals).
Longbotham continued his solid performance with an 18th-place finish in the 200 freestyle, following a preliminary time of 1:42.00 with a time of 1:41.56 in the finals. After finishing in 22nd place in the 100 breaststroke with times of 59.60 seconds (preliminaries) and 59.04 seconds (finals), Chiu posted a tenth place finish in the 100 backstroke with times of 52.25 seconds (preliminaries) and 52.10 seconds (finals). Also in the 100 backstroke, Wertz finished 19th with a time of 53.80 seconds in the finals, Gilmore finished 21st with a finals time of 54.17 seconds, and Pedack finished in 27th place in 54.38 seconds in the finals.
Longbotham, Chiu, Andrew Martinez (Concord, Calif.), and Garrett Nugent (Valencia, Calif.) closed out Seattle University's participation in the meet with a 10th place finish in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 7:07.37. Competing against top teams such as Stanford, Hawaii, Air Force, BYU, Utah, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Baptist, and Cal State Northridge, the Redhawks ended day two in ninth place with 246.5 points.
The Seattle University swim teams will head north of the border, traveling to Burnaby, B.C., to face Simon Fraser tomorrow, Nov. 21, beginning at 6 p.m.