Thanks to five event victories and several other fast times, the Seattle University women’s swim team defeated both Grand Canyon University, 104-100, and Loyola Marymount University, 128-76, Saturday afternoon in a double-dual meet at the Southwest Valley Family YMCA.
Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) finished first in the 1000 freestyle for the second straight day, posting a time of 10:45.22, ahead of teammate Emma Foster (Clancy, Mont.) in second place in 11:00.86. Lydig then started a stretch of three straight Redhawk event victories with a first place finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:05.75, over three seconds in front of her nearest competitor. Katie Rottman (Phoenix, Ariz.) also performed well in the event, finishing third in 2:09.76.
Kristin Hoffman (Mercer Island, Wash.) won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.32, and then she improved upon her season-best time in the 100 freestyle, finishing fourth in 53.69 seconds. After Lydig’s victory in the 200 backstroke, Sidney Pinger (Tualatin, Ore.) touched the wall first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:16.64, over three-and-a-half seconds quicker than the second place finisher.
Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) posted Seattle U’s third dominant victory in as many events, winning the 200 breaststroke by over three-and-a-half seconds with a mark of 2:18.28. She also joined with Rottman, Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.), and Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.) to finish second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.88.
Midway through the meet, Treff finished second in the 50 freestyle in 24.41 seconds, Wittenauer-Lee picked up a second place finish in the 200 individual medley in 2:07.18, and Kaitlyn Overstreet (Cottonwood Heights, Utah) swam a competitive third place in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.46, 9/100ths of a second faster than her previous personal best set at last season’s WAC Championships.
“After starting a little sluggish yesterday, the women came out today ready to go and posted some amazing times,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “The three straight event wins allowed us to clinch both meets before the final relay, and to be 5-1 in dual meets at this point of the season just shows how hard they have worked.”
Seattle University (5-1) will look for another victory over a conference foe, hosting Idaho Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 1 p.m. at the Connolly Complex Pool.