The Seattle University women’s swim team set four new school records Saturday as the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships concluded at the Palo Alto College Natatorium.
“It was a big day today, with a bunch of great swims,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “Overall, it was a strong meet. A lot of lifetime-best marks throughout the team, and definitely something to build on for the future.”
The final school record to fall came in the final event of the entire meet, as Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.), Nicole Doi (Pleasanton, Calif.), Sidney Pinger (Tualatin, Ore.), and Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) broke the 400 freestyle relay school record by combining for a time of 3:29.68.
For the second consecutive day, Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.) broke a school record in the morning session, setting a new standard in the 200 butterfly at 2:05.05, good enough for 10th in the preliminaries. She finished 13th overall in the evening session with a time of 2:05.25. Kate Sabourin (Santa Rosa, Calif.) posted a morning time of 2:11.46, and Pinger finished in 2:16.72.
Bethany Gehrke (Lynnwood, Wash.) broke the school record in the 1650 freestyle by over 6.5 seconds, posting a time of 17:14.29 to finish 10th in the event. She also set a new 1000 freestyle record with her opening split of 10:28.71, over a second faster than the previous standard. Emma Foster (Clancy, Mont.) notched the third-fastest time in school history in the mile, finishing in 14th place with a mark of 17:22.01.
Wittenauer-Lee just missed qualifying for the “A” final in the 200 breaststroke, finishing in ninth place in the preliminaries in 2:17.81. In the evening, she finished 12th overall with a time of 2:19.87. Annika Perry (Reno, Nev.) moved into ninth on the all-time top times list with a morning mark of 2:25.72, followed by an evening time of 2:25.93, and Caroline Van Maren (Bellevue, Wash.) finished with a time of 2:28.01.
In the 200 backstroke, Carlee Bock (Bellingham, Wash.) led the Redhawks in the preliminaries with a time of 2:05.96. She came back in the evening to earn a new personal best at 2:05.40. Katie Rottman (Phoenix, Ariz.) was next with a personal-best time of 2:07.32, moving into fourth on the Seattle U all-time list, followed by Mackenzie Gant (Richland, Wash.) at 2:08.02, also a personal best.
Hoffman moved into fifth place on the all-time top 10 times list in the 100 freestyle after a preliminary swim of 52.81 seconds. Doi posted a personal best time of 53.14 seconds. In the “C” final, Hoffman posted a time of 53.01 seconds, just ahead of Doi’s mark of 53.19 seconds.
Also in the 100 freestyle, Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.) finished in 54.01 seconds, just ahead of Stephanie Bayless (Spokane, Wash.) in 54.07 seconds and Rachael Rodriguez (Round Rock, Texas) in 54.94 seconds. Melanie Frey (Seattle, Wash.) posted a time of 56.37 seconds, and Whitney Dean (Campbell, Calif.) finished her morning swim in 57.63 seconds.
As a team, the Redhawk women finished in eighth place with 154 points. Northern Arizona convincingly won the conference title, with Idaho finishing in second place.
The Seattle University women’s swim team finishes the 2013-14 season with numerous fresh times in the all-time top 10 lists. The conference meet was the final one for seniors Dean, Doi, and Frey.