The Seattle University women’s swim team performed better than in its previous meet, but still fell to both the University of Idaho, 218-76, and to Cal State Bakersfield, 200-94, Saturday afternoon in a double-dual meet at the UI Swim Center.
Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) dominated the 200 backstroke, winning by almost four full seconds with a time of 2:05.52, moving into third place on Seattle U’s all-time top times list in the event. Earlier in the meet, she finished third in the 1000 freestyle in 10:42.75, and she would later finish fifth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:19.08.
Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) picked up the other event victory for the Redhawks, winning the 200 breaststroke in 2:22.41. She started the meet with a 100 breaststroke split of 1:06.00, joining with Maddie Dickman (Sacramento, Calif.), Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.), and Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) to finish fourth in the 400 medley relay in 4:03.27, and then Wittenauer-Lee finished third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:10.99.
The Redhawks capped off the meet with the 10th-best time in the 200 freestyle relay in program history, as Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.), Alexis Martinez (Granite Bay, Calif.), Melissa Randolf (Everett, Wash.), and Hoffman finished third in 1:39.33. Individually, Hoffman finished fourth in the 200 freestyle in 1:57.27 and fifth in the 100 freestyle in 53.76 seconds, while Treff finished fifth in the 50 freestyle in 24.62 seconds. Liggett first finished fourth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:11.99 before touching the wall third in the 100 butterfly in 58.71 seconds.
“The team started off a little lethargic, but after a big talk during the first break, they came out firing on all cylinders,” Seattle U head women’s swim coach Craig Nisgor said. “Once they got going, they performed the way we thought they could.”
The Seattle University swim teams will start training for potential competitions during the first week of December, either the Winter Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., or the Husky Invitational at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.