Freshmen tout big swim/dive performances on 'Senior Day'

ORANGE, Calif. – It was 'Senior Day' for the Chapman University men's and women's swimming and diving teams on Saturday, but it was the freshmen who stole the show as the Panther women split dual-meet scoring, defeating visiting University of La Verne (148-142) and falling to University of Redlands (197-100) at the Allred Pool. The men fell to both schools, narrowly losing to La Verne (138-117) and Redlands (205-72).

Freshman distance swimmer Mary Welton set a new career-best with a first-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:19.05, shaving more than eight seconds off her previous record. With that time she currently ranks eighth in the SCIAC in the event heading into the conference championships in two weeks.

Freshmen Lauren Alvarado (500-yard freestyle) and Rachel Isaacs (100-yard butterfly) also set career-bests and earned crucial points for the Panthers with second place finishes in their respective events. Alvarado, with a time of 5:24.08, finished just five seconds off the pace set by Redlands' Summer Harp. And Isaacs trimmed nearly a second and a half off her previous best in the 100 fly and just .51 behind the first-place standard set by Redlands' Lauren Robeznieks on Saturday.

Chapman rookie divers continued to take the SCIAC by storm, wrapping the regular season with first-place marks in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions. On the women's side, once again it was Kayla Dimicco with overall scores of 235.55 (1m) and 245.10 (3m) to capture first place in both. And Joey Luba took first with scores of 272.05 (1m) and 286.90 (3m) in the men's competitions. Both will be among the favorites heading into the SCIAC Championships.

Freshman men's sprinter Jonathan Lee won a very competitive 200-yard freestyle event with a career-best 1:43.23 mark with just three seconds separating the top four swimmers between the three schools. That mark currently ranks fourth in the conference this season. Lee was also second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.92.

Not to be outdone, Chapman seniors Kirsten Spicer and Emily Holmquist were among the points-earners on Saturday in sprint events. Spicer took second in the 50-yard freestyle to La Verne's Maddie Lovrensky with a time of 25.19 while Holmquist swam her final 100-yard freestyle at the Allred Pool in 55.80, good for second place and a career-best.

Next up for the Panthers will be the SCIAC Championships which take place Feb. 19-22.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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