Many members of the Seattle University women’s swim team posted personal-best times Saturday afternoon, but the Redhawks fell just short to Simon Fraser University, 141-120, at the Connolly Center Pool.
Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) continues to lead the way in her freshman season, winning three individual events, starting with a close victory in the 100 breaststroke by 7/10ths of a second with a time of 1:05.17. She cruised to a win in the 200 breaststroke by over three seconds in 2:20.45, and then established close to the same margin of victory in the 200 individual medley with a mark of 2:07.17.
After finishing second in the 100 backstroke by just a quarter of a second with a time of 58.83 seconds, tying her season best, Carlee Bock (Bellingham, Wash.) won the 200 backstroke in 2:05.51, the second-best mark in school history. Bock also led off the 200 medley relay, joining Wittenauer-Lee, Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.), and Nicole Doi (Pleasanton, Calif.) for a second-place finish in a season-best time of 1:48.37.
Liggett came close to her personal best in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:06.75 and then did establish a personal record in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 57.48 seconds, finishing in second place in both events. Doi moved into Seattle U’s top ten times list in the 100 freestyle with the eighth-best mark at 53.39 seconds in a runner-up finish, and then she led off the 200 freestyle relay, teaming with Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.), Caroline Van Maren (Bellevue, Wash.), and Stephanie Bayless (Spokane, Wash.) for a season-best mark of 1:39.14 to finish in second place.
Bethany Gehrke (Lynnwood, Wash.) led a 1-2 finish in the 500 freestyle with a winning time of 5:13.03, with Emma Foster (Clancy, Mont.) touching the wall in second place in 5:14.86. Foster also established the eighth-best time in program history in the 1650 freestyle, finishing in third place with a mark of 17:56.24. Gehrke also finished in third place in the 200 freestyle in 1:59.13, just behind teammate Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) in second place with a mark of 1:58.94.
“The women had a great meet, but Simon Fraser just had a little more firepower today,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “For people such as Jane, Carlee, and Nicole to post lifetime-best swims after an especially-hard week of practice and weight work just shows how much heart this team has.”
Before the meet, seniors Whitney Dean (Campbell, Calif.), Doi, and Melanie Frey (Seattle, Wash.) were recognized for their contributions to the Redhawk swim program over the past four years.
Seattle University (1-12) will compete on an intrasquad basis next Saturday, Feb. 1, starting at 12 noon at the Connolly Center Pool before preparing for the Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 26-March 1.