The Seattle University swim teams leave Tuesday for Houston, Texas, where the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships will take place, an opportunity for the Redhawks to show the continued progress they have made over the past year.
“It’s been a really great season so far, with a lot of records being broken and a lot of personal best times established. The team seems to have the right mental attitude, so I expect a lot of big things down in Houston,” Seattle U head swim coach Craig Nisgor said.
The women will be led by junior Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (Portland, Ore.), who has the best time in the conference in the 400 individual medley entering the championships, plus is seeded third in the 200 breaststroke, fourth in the 100 breaststroke, and eighth in the 200 individual medley, although she will compete in only three of those four events. Last year, she finished in the top five in the three individual events she competed in, but Nisgor believes she has the potential for greater achievements.
“She had a good year last year, it wasn’t a great year, but a very good year,” said Nisgor. “There is more left in the tank, and I think she knows that. I think we are going to see some impressive swims from her this week.”
Other women to watch include Paige Treff (Orland, Calif.) in the 50 freestyle, Madi Lydig (Spokane, Wash.) in the 200 backstroke, where she is seeded fifth after setting the school record at the last home meet Jan. 30, and Kaitlyn Overstreet (Cottonwood Heights, Utah), seeded sixth in the 200 butterfly with a school-record time posted Dec. 5 against Washington State.
For the men, Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.) set a Connolly Complex pool record in the 100 butterfly Jan. 30, a time good enough for him to be seeded third in the event. Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) is seeded seventh in the 200 breaststroke and 10th in the 100 breaststroke, an event in which he advanced to the “A” final at last year’s championships.
Morgan Montemayor (Seattle, Wash.) is another Redhawk to watch on the men’s side, as he is seeded 12th in the 100 backstroke and 14th in the 200 backstroke. Senior Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) will look to break into the top eight in the 1650 freestyle after finishing ninth in the long-distance event in back-to-back years.
“In practice, Tanner has been sprinting as fast as he has swum all season. Morgan swam really well in the backstroke events against Simon Fraser in order to put himself in good heats at the championships. Overall, we have a lot of good stuff going on, and I think that will carry on into this meet,” continued Nisgor.
Last year, Seattle U set school records in three of the four relays contested on the first night of the championships, including an astounding third place finish in the women’s 800 freestyle relay. Nisgor believes that another night like that will be the catalyst for another successful meet.
“We get off on the right foot, and good things will happen. The potential is there for a repeat performance,” added Nisgor. “We just want to get better and better. We want more appearances in the ‘A’ finals. I am confident that if the team continues to perform the way they have so far this season, then everything will take care of itself.”
The championships begin Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Pacific time) at the CRWC Natatorium in Houston, Texas, with the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. The preliminaries for the individual events begin Thursday, Feb. 25, at 10:30 a.m. Central time, with the finals plus the 200 freestyle relay taking place later Thursday evening at 6 p.m. local time. All four finals sessions will be carried by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/live).