Toole qualifies for regionals at Chris Knorr Invite

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Chapman University men's and women's swim and dive teams both competed at the Chris Knorr Invite held at Cal Lutheran this past weekend. The women's side, led by junior diver Kellyn Toole, placed third overall while the men's side placed fifth.

Toole dominated the diving boards, placing first in both the 1 meter and 3 meter events. Toole posted a final score of 241.85 in the 1 meter board, scoring 17 more points than the second place finisher. The Centennial, Colo. native qualified for regionals for the third year in a row in the 3 meter board after posting a final score of 269.15. She outscored the second place finisher by 19 points to take first place.

The women started the meet strong, placing fourth in the 400 medley relay. The team of freshman Hanna Heiss, senior Mary Welton and sophomores Molly Davis and Teresa Gerhold finished with a time of 4:19.53 to notch the top-5 finish. Junior Kristina Fong continued the strong showing, placing fifth in the 100 back with a time of 1:02.53. Freshman Carina Laukaitis posted a strong finish in the 200 back, placing fourth with a time of 2:15.42.

A trio of women finished hand-in-hand in the 200 IM. Heiss, freshman Joanna Spyrou, and Laukaitis all finished within one second of each other in the medley. Heiss finished in 10th place with a time of 2:20.55 with Spyrou right on her heels coming in at 2:20.75 in 11th place. Laukaitis wanted in on the action, finishing just behind Spyrou in 12th place with a time of 2:21.53.

The men also started strong, posting a fifth place finish in the 400 medley relay. Freshmen Josh Modglin, William Crewe, and Justin Lammert and sophomore Chase Mitchell finished the relay at 3:40.82. Not only did these four lead the Panthers in the relay event, but they also posted high scores individually. Modglin finished the 200 back in sixth place with a time of 2:02.29, while Crewe finished seventh in the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.33. Lammert finished the 50 free in fifth place with a time of 22.27 with teammate Quinn Gates on his heels, who finished 0.6 seconds later in sixth place. Mitchell placed in the top-10 in two of his events. The sophomore placed fourth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.67 and sixth in the 500 free with a time of 4:56.18.

The men's and women's 400 free relay teams both finished strong in second place. The men's team of Crewe, Lammert, Gates and sophomore Austin Donoghue posted a time of 3:20.00 to beat out 14 other teams. The women's team of Gerhold, Fong, Laukaitis and Davis finished with a time of 3:46.07 to notch the second place finish.

Mary Welton was honored with the Chris Knorr Leadership Award along with Cal Lutheran's Jonah Hobbes. The award is presented to one male and one female swimmer who exemplify some of Chris Knorr's leadership qualities. As team captain and a leader in and out of the pool for the Panthers, Welton was honored with the award.

Chapman hops back in the pool at Allred Aquatic Center this Friday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. to host Mills.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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