The Seattle University men's swim team continued to be competitive as the 2012 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Swimming and Diving Championships continued Friday at East Los Angeles College.
After qualifying for the championship final in the 100 butterfly in a personal-best time of 48.68 seconds, Jordan Anderson (Newberg, Ore.) improved even more in the evening, finishing fifth with a time of 48.44 seconds, second-fastest in school history. Both Ali Abadi (Edmonds, Wash.) and Garrett Nugent (Valencia, Calif.) were able to move on to the bonus final, with Abadi finishing 21st overall in 50.90 seconds and Nugent finishing 24th overall with a time of 51.61 in the finals.
James Gilmore (Eugene, Ore.) posted the second-fastest time in school history in the 400 individual medley, finishing second in the consolation final and 10th overall in the event with a time of 3:57.27, over two seconds faster than his time of 3:59.40 in the preliminaries.
After coming close to his own school record in the 200 freestyle preliminaries with a time of 1:39.09, Murray Longbotham (Mercer Island, Wash.) finished 14th overall with a time of 1:40.52 in the consolation final. Tomas Mendez-Beck (Hillsboro, Ore.) advanced to the bonus final with a solid time of 1:40.93, finishing 22nd overall in the event after posting a time of 1:42.30 in the evening session.
Chris Lynch (Melbourne, Australia) picked up a point for Seattle U in the 100 breaststroke after qualifying for the consolation final with a preliminary time of 57.04 seconds, followed by a time of 57.60 seconds in the final to finish in 16th place overall.
Anderson, Longbotham, Keith Andrews (Hillsboro, Ore.), and Tyler Carriker (Everett, Wash.) combined to post the third-fastest time in school history in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.00, finishing sixth overall in the event. As a team, the Redhawks are in seventh place with 156 points after three days of competition.
Seattle U will look to finish the championship meet on a strong note Saturday, Feb. 18, competing in the 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and 400 freestyle relay.