SEATTLE (Feb. 16) – Seattle University women’s swimming will head to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships next week, beginning Feb. 22 at the University of Houston.
"We are bringing a very strong team into the conference meet this year," said Coach Craig Nisgor. "Having set four school records in December the team knows that they are ready to compete and really make a mark in the WAC. It should be exciting as we currently have 4 members of the team ranked in the top 10 of at least one of their events. Now it is time to get to Houston and make it happen."
Senior Blaise Wittenauer-Lee headlines the Redhawks entering the event. She is seeded first in three different races-the 100 breastroke, 200 breaststroke, and 200 IM. Wittenauer-Lee won the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the 2016 WAC Championships, claiming the first individual WAC titles by an SU swimmer.
This season, Wittenauer-Lee has posted NCAA ‘B’ cut times in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Her seed time of 2:11.26 in the 200 breaststroke is over two seconds ahead of the next WAC competitor, as well as being a school record. In the 100 breaststroke, she has tallied a time of 1:01.19, an SU record and fastest among WAC swimmers by .43 seconds. Wittenauer-Lee, a native of Portland, Oregon, also has the league’s top time in the 200 IM with a 2:01.77 showing, another Redhawk record.
In the 200 backstroke, Madi Lydig enters the contest seeded third. Her time of 2:00.88 puts her in the mix for a strong finish next week.
Kate Sabourin earned the ninth seed in the 400 IM with a time of 4:29.65. That showing is third-fastest in program history. In the 100 butterfly, Kaitlyn Overstreet’s school-record time of 56.37 stood eighth-fastest in the conference.
The WAC Championships runs from Feb. 22-25.