For the second consecutive week, a Seattle University swimmer has been recognized by the Western Athletic Conference office, as junior Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) was named the WAC Female Swimmer of the Week Tuesday afternoon after her performance over the weekend in Arizona.
Wittenauer-Lee played a major role in Seattle U posting a 3-1 record over the weekend in Arizona, with two victories over Loyola Marymount as well as a win over Grand Canyon. Friday, she posted the fastest 100 breaststroke split by a second in the 400 medley relay to help the Redhawks finish second overall in 3:56.09. She dominated the two individual events she competed in Friday, winning the 400 individual medley by over 13 seconds with a time of 4:26.90, followed by a 1.66-second victory in the 100 breaststroke with a mark of 1:04.49.
Saturday, her 50 breaststroke split of 29.52 seconds was the fastest as Seattle U finished second in the 200 medley relay in 1:48.88. She posted a time of 2:07.18 in the 200 individual medley, finishing second by just 4/10ths of a second. She then helped the Redhawks clinch both dual meets against Grand Canyon and Loyola Marymount by winning the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.28, 3.54 seconds in front of her nearest competitor.
“Blaise really had a great weekend. We went right from the airport to the meet on Friday, and she put up three great swims that day. On Saturday she was ready to go again and, after doing a really fast split, she swam well in the IM and then put up a time in the 200 breaststroke that would have placed seventh at conference last year. She is doing a great job and helped the team to three victories over the weekend,” Seattle U head swim coach Craig Nisgor said.
Currently, Wittenauer-Lee holds the fastest times in the conference in the 200 breaststroke and 400 individual medley as well as the second-fastest time in the 100 breaststroke and third-quickest mark in the 200 individual medley. Wittenauer-Lee has continued her exemplary performance from last season, when she earned First Team All-WAC honors in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke at the WAC Swimming and Diving Championships.
Wittenauer-Lee becomes the fourth Seattle U female student-athlete to receive a weekly award from the conference this week, joining Kelly Beck and Julia Moravec from women’s soccer and Martina Samadan from volleyball. She is also the second straight Redhawk swimmer to be honored by the conference, as Paige Treff was named WAC Female Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 20 after her performance against Simon Fraser and Northern Colorado.
The Seattle University women’s swim team returns to competition Saturday, Nov. 7, against regional rival Idaho starting at 1 p.m. at the Connolly Complex Pool.