The Seattle University women’s swim team moved into double figures in dual meet victories by defeating South Dakota, 131-105, and Northern Colorado, 126-110, Saturday in a collegiate swim meet hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy at the Cadet Natatorium.
The Redhawks nearly won the opening event of the meet for the second straight day, as Kaitlyn Overstreet (Cottonwood Heights, Utah), Annika Perry (Reno, Nev.), Jane Liggett (Portland, Ore.), and Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.) finished second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.87, just a half-second behind Air Force’s quartet and the ninth-fastest time in program history.
Treff repeated as the winner of the 50 freestyle, finishing the sprint in 24.31 seconds. Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.) followed with a first place finish in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:39.32.
Seattle U performed well in the 100 butterfly, with Liggett finishing in second place in 58.94 seconds and Overstreet finishing in fourth place in 59.78 seconds. Wittenauer-Lee continued her winning ways, coming out ahead by just 4/100ths of a second in a thrilling 100 freestyle with a time of 53.75 seconds.
Katie Rottman (Phoenix, Ariz.) finished in second place in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 1:00.21. In the distance freestyle events, Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) finished second in both the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:02.11 and the 500 freestyle in 5:22.40.
Wittenauer-Lee picked up her fifth individual victory of the weekend, winning the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.84, almost four full seconds ahead of Perry, who finished second in 1:08.75. The meet concluded with the quartet of Kelly Hartman (East Wenatchee, Wash.), Emily Gough (San Clemente, Calif.), Maddie Dickman (Sacramento, Calif.), and Sidney Pinger (Tualatin, Ore.) posting a time of 3:41.09 in the 400 freestyle relay.
“Another great day for our women, especially overcoming both South Dakota’s and Northern Colorado’s diving results in order to pick up those victories,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “Blaise’s confidence is extremely high after the weekend she had, plus we got great performances from Katie, Madi, and Paige. As a team, we are feeling pretty good right now.”
Once again, the host Air Force Falcons cruised to three victories, including a win over the Redhawks, 138-99.
Seattle University (11-5) will conclude the dual meet portion of the schedule in two weeks, hosting Simon Fraser Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Connolly Complex Pool starting at 12 noon. Before the meet, Senior Day ceremonies will be held honoring those who will be competing for the final time in front of the home crowd.