The Seattle University men’s swim team opened the 2013-14 season with a double-dual meet against Bakersfield and Grand Canyon Saturday afternoon at the Hillman Aquatic Center.
Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) picked up Seattle U’s lone event victory of the afternoon, winning the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:53.53. He also finished fifth in the 100 butterfly in 51.60 seconds, with Tomas Mendez-Beck (Hillsboro, Ore.) touching the wall in second place with a mark of 50.85 seconds.
Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.) put together a solid day for the Redhawks, finishing second in both the 100 backstroke in 51.24 seconds, 4/100ths of a second off his personal best, and the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:53.35.
Wanot led off both of Seattle U’s top relays, first teaming with Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas), Mendez-Beck, and Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) for a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay in 1:34.97. At the end of the meet, he joined with Nicolas Morrell (Bend, Ore.), Mendez-Beck, and Schelling in the 400 freestyle relay for another third-place finish with a mark of 3:07.57.
In the 200 breaststroke, Connor Webb (Hood River, Ore.) finished second with a time of 2:09.15, followed closely by Wheeler in fourth place in 2:09.61. Wheeler also led the Redhawks with a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.30, plus he finished sixth in the 200 individual medley in 2:00.95, just behind teammate Douglas Pizac (Salt Lake City, Utah) in fifth place in 2:00.11.
Schelling started his collegiate career with solid individual results, finishing fifth in the 100 freestyle in 47.65 seconds and eighth in the 50 freestyle in 21.70 seconds, just behind Mendez-Beck in sixth place in 21.69 seconds. Morrell led Seattle U with a fifth-place finish in the 500 freestyle in 4:43.84 and a sixth-place finish in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.01.
“Despite being a little bit under the weather, Bart performed well throughout the day, and we also received strong efforts from Tomas, Kyle, and Gabe,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “Overall, I am pleased with where we are at this time of the season, and I am looking forward to seeing the guys continually improve as the year goes along.”
In the team double-dual scoring, Seattle U fell to host Bakersfield, 189-99, and to Grand Canyon, 183-79. Grand Canyon proved it belonged at the Division I level, sweeping the day by defeating Bakersfield, 156-132.
Seattle University (0-2) will conduct a series of intrasquad meets at the Connolly Center over the first two weekends of November, plus host the annual Alumni Meet Saturday, Nov. 2, starting at 12 noon.