After a slow start, the Seattle University women's swim team picked up some key event victories and used its depth to defeat Simon Fraser, 111-88, Friday night at the Connolly Center Pool.
Simon Fraser won the first four events before Karla Ruff (Seattle, Wash.) broke through with a victory in the 200 individual medley in 2:11.06. Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.) and Hanna Basler (El Cajon, Calif.) teamed for a 1-2 finish in the 100 freestyle, with Randolf posting a time of 54.38 seconds and Basler finishing in 55.10 seconds.
Alexis Morehouse (Vancouver, Wash.) and Kevlyn Richards (Gig Harbor, Wash.) finished 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke, with Morehouse touching the wall first in 2:20.13, followed by Richards in 2:20.69. The quartet of Tina Nguyen (Hillsboro, Ore.), Basler, Nicole Doi (Pleasanton, Calif.), and Randolf capped off the night with a come-from-behind victory in the 200 freestyle relay, posting a pool-record time of 1:38.93 for a victory by 16/100ths of a second, with Randolf posting a blistering split of 24.38 seconds as the anchor.
"You could tell we were a little rusty from not having raced for a month and a half, but they came back. The excitement was there. We had a lot of people do lifetime-best swims," Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor.
Besides her third-best time ever in the 200 breaststroke, Richards posted a lifetime-best time of 2:11.29 in the 200 individual medley. Nguyen earned a lifetime-best time in the 200 backstroke by about two seconds, finishing second in that event in 2:09.74. Bethany Gehrke (Lynnwood, Wash.) posted a time of 2:11.04 in the 200 individual medley swimming as an exhibition competitor, plus she finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:13.94.
Carmen Nam led Simon Fraser with three event victories, finishing first in the 1000 freestyle (10:30.64), the 200 butterfly (2:09.73), and the 500 freestyle (5:12.44). Grace Ni (200 backstroke), Alexandria Schofield (200 freestyle), and Kristine Lawson (50 freestyle) also picked up event wins for Simon Fraser, plus they teamed with Katie McEvoy to finish first in the 200 medley relay and take the early lead in the meet.
Seattle University and Simon Fraser will meet again Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Connolly Center Pool, and they will be joined by the Washington State women's swim team for a double-dual meet. The meet is scheduled to start at noon, with Senior Day ceremonies set to kick off the day at approximately 11:40 a.m.