Several of Seattle University's top swimmers faced the best competition from around the country at the three-day AT&T Short Course National Championships, organized by USA Swimming at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
One of the best performances of the weekend came from the men's 200 medley relay Friday, as the quartet of Eric Pedack (Snohomish, Wash.), Bryson Chiu (Carmel, Ind.), Murray Longbotham (Mercer Island, Wash.), and Jordan Anderson (Newberg, Ore.) qualified for the "B" final by finishing in a tie for 15th place in the preliminaries with a time of 1:34.27. In the evening, Pedack, Chiu, Anderson, and Chris Fulton (Snohomish, Wash.) finished in a tie for seventh place in the "B" final with a time of 1:34.44.
The team of Anderson, Fulton, Chiu, and Longbotham finished the event Saturday with an 11th-place finish in the men's 400 freestyle relay, posting a time of 3:05.29, ahead of quartets from UW Milwaukee, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly, George Mason, and Seton Hall. On Thursday, the quartet of Anderson, Fulton, Jeff Tibbals (Moscow, Idaho), and Longbotham nearly qualified for the "B" final in the 200 freestyle relay, missing by just 4/100ths of a second and settling for 17th place with a time of 1:25.51.
Individually, Chiu came the closest to qualifying for an evening final, finishing 26th in Saturday's men's 200 breaststroke preliminaries in a time of 2:03.79. Competing in three other events over the weekend, Chiu finished 44th in the men's 200 individual medley (1:52.61), tied for 54th in the men's 100 breaststroke (52.21), and 73rd in the men's 100 butterfly (52.01).
Also in the men's 100 butterfly preliminaries Friday morning, Longbotham finished in 28th place in 49.86 seconds, followed in 55th place by Anderson in 50.68 seconds and in 77th place by James Gilmore (Eugene, Ore.) in 52.86 seconds. Earlier Friday, Gilmore competed in the men's 400 individual medley, earning a 37th place finish with a time of 4:09.97.
In Thursday's men's 50 freestyle, Anderson swam the course in 20.89 seconds for a 39th place finish, with Fulton right behind him in 41st place in 20.94 seconds. Friday, Longbotham finished in 32nd place in the men's 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.77, and Pedack finished 30th in Saturday's men's 200 butterfly with a time of 1:52.38.
Representing the women's team, Alexis Morehouse (Vancouver, Wash.) finished in 63rd place in the women's 100 breaststroke on Friday in 1:05.90 and in 40th place in the women's 200 breaststroke on Saturday in 2:20.70. Briley Boggs (Federal Way, Wash.) competed in the women's 100 butterfly preliminaries Friday morning, posting a time of 57.90 seconds for an 80th-place finish.
The Seattle University swim teams have completed competition for the fall quarter. The women's team resumes its season with home meets against Washington State (Jan. 16 - 11 a.m.) and Alaska (Jan. 20 - 1 p.m.), with both the men and the women hosting Simon Fraser and Concordia in the final home meet of the 2009-10 season Saturday, Jan. 23, starting at 1 p.m. at the Connolly Center Pool.