Swim & dive teams start 2018 with dual wins
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University swimming & diving teams started 2018 on a winning note in a meet with La Verne, Mills and Biola. With the meet being scored as a dual between each team, both the men's team went 2-0 to start the new calendar year while the women's team went 2-1.
Both the men's and women's teams scored SCIAC wins over La Verne, giving the men's team its second SCIAC win of the season. The men won handily by a score of 129-68 and the women won 176-58. Since joining the conference, the men's team had just one dual meet win all-time coming into the season. The Panther men also defeated Biola, 135-82, while the women beat Mills, 172-52, but narrowly fell 122-113 to Biola.
The men's relay teams put Chapman on the right track as they began and ended the day with a win. Freshmen Josh Modglin, William Crewe and Robby Jones teamed up with junior Quinn Gates to cruise to a win in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:40.82. Modglin and fellow freshman Justin Lammert paired with sophomores Nick O'Neill and Crosby Tinucci to win the 400 free relay with a time of 3:22.13. The Panthers actually went 1-2 in the event with the "B" relay edging out the "A" relay for the win.
Freshman Jacob Cardenas-Lopez helped boost the men's team with an overall event win in the 200 free. He finished nearly five seconds ahead of his nearest competitor with a 1:51.81. The Panthers then dominated the 50 free with a 1-2-3 finish. Gates, Lammert and Crewe swept the podium in the event with Gates' time of 22.05 leading the way. Lammert finished at 22.14 and Crewe swam a 22.74.
Lammert continued to dominate the freestyle sprints with another first-place finish in the 100 free. He swam a season-best 48.98 to capture the event win while Cardenas-Ramirez and O'Neill took third and fourth in another Panther dominated event. The youth continued to shin in the 200 back as Crewe captured the event win at 1:58.37 with Modglin right behind at 2:00.46.
The women's team was once again led by junior diver Kellyn Toole, who put up NCAA Regional qualifying marks on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. She scored a season-best 264.65 to qualify on the 1-meter board and take the event win. On the 3-meter, the scored a 274.55 to take another event win.
The Panther women also had the youth of the team lead the dual wins. Freshman Hanna Heiss swam a season-best 2:11.70 to win the 200 back and fellow freshman Joanna Spryou led a 1-2-3 Panther finish in the 500 free with a time of 5:26.70. Freshman Carina Laukaitis took second and sophomore Katharine Buliga came in third.
Both women's relay teams came in second only to Biola as the Panthers swam to eight second-place finishes in the meet.
The Panthers are back in action tomorrow in a SCIAC double dual with Redlands and Occidental. Diving will start at 10 a.m. with the swim portion of the meet following the first diving event.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director
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