Best SCIAC Finals finish ever caps off historic swim and dive season

COMMERCE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished the SCIAC Championships the best they have since joining the conference. The women finished third with a team score of 504, while the men finished in seventh place with a score of 323. Junior Kellyn Toole took another trip to the podium, this time earning All-SCIAC by coming in first in the 3-meter board with a score of 443.90 for her third consecutive top-3 finish.

Four different Panthers broke individual school records and both 400 free relay teams broke their respective records, tallying six broken records on the last day of competition. Freshman Josh Modglin shattered the previous record in the 200 back by nearly three seconds, finishing in sixth place with a time of 1:52.54. Freshman Will Mamer was the next to break a record, finishing with a time of 2:12.63 in the prelims and breaking the previous school record by over two seconds.

Freshman Jailey Reeves also broke the 200 breast record, this time for the women. The rookie swam a 2:24.87 in the prelims, beating the previous school record by almost three seconds. Cue up another freshman as William Crewe broke his third individual record. The breakout rookie swam a 1:52.17 in the 200 fly to destroy the previous record by over four seconds.

The men's 400 relay team of freshmen Justin Lammert, Brian Kim, Crewe and junior Quinn Gates swam a school record 3:08.00 in the finals this evening, demolishing the previous school record by more than five seconds. The women's 400 relay team of Reeves, sophomores Teresa Gerhold and Molly Davis and junior Kristina Fong swam a 3:33.86 to set the Chapman record.

Senior Mary Welton earned an appearance in the finals in the 1650 free, swimming an 18:23.58 and finishing in 10th place. Finishing in the next two spots behind Welton were Gerhold and sophomore Katharine Buliga. Gerhold finished with a finals time of 18:27.57 with Buliga behind her at 18:41.31. Freshman Joanna Spyrou was the fourth woman to compete in the finals of the 1650 free, finishing with a time of 19:35.36.

Freshmen Carina Laukaitis and Hanna Heiss both competed in the finals in the 200 back, with Laukaitis finishing at 2:10.21 and Heiss less than a tenth of a second behind at 2:10.29. Fong competed in the 100 free, finishing with a time of 54.43 in the finals. Freshman Annie Brennan saw a spot in the finals in the 200 breast in her first championships, posting a time of 2:34.36. Davis and sophomore Ally Haase competed in the 200 fly, with Davis seeing a ninth place finish at 2:11.52 and Haase finishing a few seconds later at 2:15.25.

Gates and Lammert finished hand-in-hand in the 100 free as they swam the exact same time in the prelims and Gates posted a 47.08 in the finals with Lammert right behind him at 47.48. Sophomore Chase Mitchell finished the 200 fly just two spots behind Crewe with a time of 1:54.56.

Toole wasn't the only diver competing on the 3-meter boards today. Freshman Simran Rajani and senior Ciera Rago placed sixth and 13th, respectively.

This record-breaking SCIAC Championships caps a historic season for the Panthers. Next up is NCAA Regionals for Toole, Rajani, and freshman Simon Duyungan.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports
#Chaptown