WAC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | LIVE RESULTS | LIVE STREAM
SEATTLE – (Feb. 16) Seattle University women’s swimming heads to Houston for the 2018 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships. The Redhawks feature a variety of challengers for the seven-meet. The four-day event runs from Feb. 21-24 at the CWRC Natatorium.
Seventh-year Coach Craig Nisgor will take eight different competitors who have top-16 times to the conference championships. The Redhawks have put together one of the biggest dual wins in program history this season, knocking off Oregon State. The 143-116 victory marked SU’s first-ever win over a Pac-12 program.
“It is a combination of the old and new as we have many different individuals from all classes seeded in the top 16,” said Nisgor. “Madi and Paige have a lot of experience as they have been multiple top-eight finishers at the conference meet. Bryn Lasher and Emily Bakewell have really set themselves up with strong swims as freshmen to be ranked in the top 10. We are excited as we have been working hard as a team to really bring everything together. The women came together against Oregon State and it was a huge win for us. They know what they can do and are ready to show that in Texas.”
At last year’s WAC Championships, Madi Lydig set three school records, picking up a silver medal in the 200 backstroke. Paige Treff recorded a school-record time in the 50 freestyle. Lydig and Treff were members of the SU-record-setting 400 medley relay that earned a silver at the conference meet. As a whole, the Redhawks put up 18 program records, 34 all-time top-10 swims, and 50 personal-best showings.
Treff has two top-10 times in the WAC this season. The senior from Orland, Calif., swam a 23.53 in the 50 freestyle, good for fourth among WAC swimmers. Treff also has the ninth-fastest 100 freestyle performance, as she finished in 51.93 on Nov. 4.
Lydig stands fifth in the 200 backstroke, having touched in 2:01.37 at the Husky Invitational. The Spokane, Wash., native notched a 5:03.72 in the 500 freestyle on Jan. 6, standing 14th in the conference.
Freshman Bryn Lasher ranks in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 butterfly this season. She posted a school-record 55.58 at the Husky Invitational, the fourth-best 100 butterfly time of the year. In the 200 butterfly, Lasher claimed a 2:06.38, standing 14th in the WAC and seventh all-time at Seattle U.
In the 400 IM, freshman Emily Bakewell has the 10th-fastest showing with a 4:32.00 at the Husky Invitational. Her time is fifth all-time at Seattle U. Maddie Rapp, a sophomore, compiled a 57.40 in the 100 butterfly, ranking 13th in the conference and ninth among all Redhawks. Darian Himes’ 2:08.89 in the 200 IM is 15th in the WAC and seventh all-time at SU. Allison Plamondon’s 52.49 in the 100 freestyle is good for 16th in the WAC. Plamondon ranks seventh on SU’s all-time list in the event.