In their 2010-11 season debut, the Seattle University men’s swimming program defeated Boston College and Stony Brook University, but lost to the United States Military Academy, in the Army Invitational in West Point, N.Y. on Friday night.
"We're thrilled to have DI first-place finishes this early in the season," said head coach Kat Cuevas. "A lot of the men performed typically like we would see at the end of the season, so it's a solid indication of what's to come."
Junior Jordan Anderson (Newberg, Ore.) headed up the Redhawk’s charge with two-first place finishes in the 50 and 100 yd. freestyle events, with times of 20.71 and 46.07. The 400 yd. free relay team also finished first, with Murray Longbotham (Mercer Island, Wash.), Douglas Pizac (Salt Lake City, UT), Jeff Tibbals (Moscow, Idaho), and Anderson finishing the race with a time of 3:07.49, a full seven seconds ahead of Boston College.
Junior James Gilmore (Eugene, Ore.) earned first-place in the 100 yd. backstroke with a time of 52.51, followed by Joe Wertz’s (Richland, Wash.) 4th place spot in the same race with a time of 53.24.
In the 200 freestyle, Longbotham and Pizac had a 2-3 finish with times of 1:42.98 and 1:45.82 respectively. The Redhawks’ 200 medley relay team also placed second with a time of 1:34.67.
The women’s team also began the season on Friday, competing against the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Moscow, Idaho. The women lost to both the Vandals and Cougars in a double dual meet.
"Several of our women beat their previous best times from last season. We were going up against two powerhouse swim programs, but this is a good start. We have more improvement to do, but this was a great starting place," said Cuevas.
Sophomore Marina Pomar-Enders (Mill Creek, Wash.) placed second in the 1000 yd. freestyle, Hayley Cobb (Irvine, Calif.) placed third in the 500 yd. freestyle. In the 100 yd breaststroke, Alexis Morehouse (Vancouver, Wash.) placed third with 1:06.26.
In the 800 yd. freestyle relay, Seattle U placed fifth and sixth with times of 8:12.09 and 8:23.27.
The women will follow up tonight’s meet at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. on Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. Next week, both teams will travel to the University of Hawaii for competition on Oct. 15-16.