SEATTLE — The Seattle University women's swim team began 2020 in winning fashion, as it cruised past Whitworth University, 183-79, on Saturday at the Redhawk Center. The Redhawks dominated the race winning 12 of 14 events, which also included sweeps in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley.
"We had some strong swim, but the one thing that stood out, was a that the ladies fought for every race," said Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor. "Considering everything else that was going on for senior day, I was happy with how we performed. The seniors did a great job staying faced and it's great we were able to get them a win. That said, we had a number of people across the board step up as well, and it was great to see some of our juniors, sophomores and even freshmen win individual events. I think that says something about our program and the direction we're heading."
Jayna Van Stone led Seattle U with two individual first-place finishes, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:57.86, before clocking in at 5:17. 58 in the 500 freestyle. Maddie Rapp also won placed first in the 200 butterfly (2:11.17), while Julia Gorman notched an overall victory in the 100 freestyle (54.80) and claimed second in the 200 free (1:58.15).
Allison Plamondon, Bryn Lasher and Margaux Thompson went 1-2-3 in the 50 freestyle. Plamondon led the trio as she touched in at 25.20, while Lasher and Thompson followed at 25.42 and 26.06. Tessa Oliver, Sherlyn Devadason and Emily Bakewell then helped the Seattle U sweep the 200 IM. Oliver took the overall victory as she was clocked in at 2:12.68, while Devadason edged out Bakewell with respective times of 2:21.07 and 2:21.38.
Danika Himes and Lasher also added to the first-place tallies. Himes won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.15, while Lasher took the 100 butterfly in 59.78.
Caitlin Caruso then won the 200 breaststroke in 2:34.12, ahead of Darian Himes, who's time of 2:34.89 was two-hundredths of a second shy of second.
Michaela Day and Alexa Hoeper finished second and third respectively in the 1650 freestyle. Day posted a time of 18:31.89, while Hoeper registered at 18:41.28. Hoeper then bounced back to win the 200 backstroke in 2:12.94.
In the 100 backstroke, Jennifer Wong took second with a time of 1:02.40, while Marissa Chan followed at 1:02.88. Chan later picked up another top three finish, placing third in the 200 back as she came in at 2:16.54.
Also helping the Redhawk cause were second-place finishes from Plamondon in the 100 free (54.85), Oliver in the 200 butterfly (2:13.68) and Isabella Guadiamos in the 100 butterfly (1:00.56) as well as a third-place finished from Emma McGill in the 500 freestyle (5:31.36)
In relay action, the Seattle U quartet of Plamondon, Darian Himes, Devadason and Gorman won the 400 medley as they combined for a time of 4:05.55. The Redhawks also won the 400 freestyle as the team of Guadiamos, Lasher, Thompson and Van Stone paced the field by nearly five seconds, as they touched in at 3:43.36.
Seattle U will return to action next Friday on the road as it visits Colorado Springs, Colorado to face Air Force and Northern Colorado. The schedule of events is slated to start at 4 pm Pacific Time.