The Seattle University women's swim team showed significant improvement from its opening meet last weekend, but still lost to MPSF member UC Davis (198-64) and to WAC school Idaho (159-103) in a double dual meet held Saturday afternoon at the Connolly Center Pool.
"I am so happy with how the women did. Unfortunately, scores don't always dictate how the meet truly was, but we had some great swims today. Things are coming together, they are coming off a tough week and I knew we were going to have some tough competition. They did a great job, but now we need to keep going as the season moves along," head coach Craig Nisgor said.
The lone event win for the Redhawks came in the 200 breaststroke, as Alexis Morehouse (Vancouver, Wash.) defeated Liliana Alvarez of UC Davis by 25/100ths of a second, posting a time of 2:20.46. Kevlyn Richards (Gig Harbor, Wash.) finished fourth in the event with a time of 2:25.76, just 14/100ths of a second behind UC Davis's Morgan Lee for third place.
Earlier in the meet, Morehouse and Richards finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke, with Morehouse posting a time of 1:05.29 and Richards finishing the race in 1:06.63. Rachel Leighter (Eugene, Ore.) finished second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:08.99, and Nicole Doi (Pleasanton, Calif.) finished fourth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.35 seconds.
In the relays, the 200 medley relay quartet of Tina Nguyen (Hillsboro, Ore.), Richards, Tessa Franke (Santa Monica, Calif.), and Doi finished fourth with a time of 1:50.56. The team of Doi, Franke, Nguyen, and Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.) finished third in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.57.
Casey Hoffman (Burien, Wash.) finished in fifth place in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:52.11, while Nguyen earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.76.
UC Davis was victorious in nine of the 14 events and swept the day, also defeating Idaho, 169.5 to 92.5. Idaho's Rachel Millet won all three individual events she entered, finishing first in the 200 freestyle (1:52.14), the 500 freestyle (5:04.56), and the 100 butterfly (56.66). Kayleigh Foley of UC Davis was the other multiple winner in individual events, finishing first in the 50 freestyle (23.88) and the 100 freestyle (51.81).
The Seattle University women's swim team will head south to Corvallis, Ore., to face Oregon State in a dual meet next Saturday, Oct. 29, beginning at 12 noon. The Redhawks return to the Connolly Center Saturday, Nov. 19, to face Boise State in a 10 a.m. contest.