The Seattle University women’s swim team opened a busy weekend at the U.S. Air Force Academy Natatorium Friday evening, competing against Air Force, North Dakota, and Northern Colorado in the first of two meets over the next couple of days.
Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) picked up three second-place finishes during the night, starting as the second leg of the 400 medley relay where she posted the fastest 100 breaststroke split at 1:03.31. She joined Carlee Bock (Bellingham, Wash.), Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.), and Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) to post a mark of 3:55.88.
Individually, Wittenauer-Lee came close to winning both events she competed in, starting with a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle by just 1/10th of a second, posting a time of 1:56.79. In the 200 breaststroke, she finished just 26/100ths of a second behind the event winner, finishing in 2:21.46.
Bock finished third in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:08.44, while Emma Foster (Clancy, Mont.) finished fifth in the 1000 freestyle in 11:00.04. Nicole Doi (Pleasanton, Calif.) finished sixth in both the 50 freestyle (25.08 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (54.75 seconds), and then she led off the 200 freestyle relay that included Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.), Caroline Van Maren (Bellevue, Wash.), and Stephanie Bayless (Spokane, Wash.) to a fourth place finish in 1:40.23.
As a team, Seattle U lost to Air Force (181-57), North Dakota (145-91), and Northern Colorado (155-82). The host Falcons swept the night with wins over North Dakota (181-60) and Northern Colorado (154-88), while Northern Colorado defeated North Dakota, 149-94.
The Seattle University women’s swim team (1-8) will once again face Air Force, North Dakota, and Northern Colorado in a quadrangular meet Saturday, Jan. 18, starting at 11 a.m. local time (10 a.m. Pacific time). The Redhawks will come home for their final official dual meet of the season against Simon Fraser Saturday, Jan. 25 before preparing for the WAC Championships at the end of February.