The Seattle University women’s swim team continued to post fast times as the Husky Invitational concluded its second day of competition Saturday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) posted the fastest preliminary time in the 400 individual medley at 4:29.18, and then she finished second in the evening final in 4:27.55. Bethany Gehrke (Lynnwood, Wash.) finished sixth in both the morning preliminary in 4:31.71 and in the evening final with a time of 4:35.66.
Wittenauer-Lee also qualified for the “A” final in the 100 breaststroke with a preliminary time of 1:04.66, and then she finished seventh in the final with a mark of 1:04.85. She concluded the night by leading off the 800 freestyle relay, joining with Sidney Pinger (Tualatin, Ore.), Rachael Rodriguez (Round Rock, Texas), and Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) to finish fourth with a time of 7:47.71, the fifth-fastest time in program history.
Also in the 100 breaststroke, Caroline Van Maren (Bellevue, Wash.) finished fifth in the “C” final, following a preliminary time of 1:07.20 with an evening mark of 1:07.36. The quartet of Allie McGavock (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Arianna Sapp (Silverdale, Wash.), Emma Foster (Clancy, Mont.), and Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.) finished 14th in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 8:01.01.
Individually, Rodriguez moved into seventh on the Redhawk all-time top times list in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 58.16 seconds, and then she finished fifth in the “C” final with a time of 58.31 seconds. Hoffman finished sixth in the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle in 1:53.62, fourth-fastest in program history, and then she finished seventh in the final with a time of 1:53.95.
Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) continued to write her name in the Seattle U top times lists, moving into 10th place on the 200 freestyle list with a preliminary time of 1:55.94 and into ninth place on the 100 backstroke list with a morning mark of 59.95 seconds.
For the day, the Seattle U women contributed 210 points to the team’s combined total of 970 points, moving up into second place in the overall team standings.
“We are continuing to swim well. Kristin and Rachael both posted lifetime bests, while other swimmers were able to swim fast despite having little rest from training. The team is performing well so far this weekend,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said.
The third and final day of the Husky Invitational will begin Sunday, Dec. 7, with the preliminary session at 9:30 a.m., followed by the finals at 5 p.m.