Swimming and Diving Win Second Straight
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 2, 2008) – Occidental College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both defeated Whittier College today at Taylor Pool improving their SCIAC records to 4-2 and 3-3, respectively.
The men, who are now 5-2 overall, got 1-2-3 sweeps in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle and took first place in both the 400 medley and 400 freestyle relays as well en route to a 135-46 win.
Adam Kantor (50.12), Gabe Shapiro-Bernadette (54.11) and Austen Oliver (54.15) led the way in the 100 free while Abiel Garcia (5:26.52), Derek Monroe (5:35.11) and Jack Hans (5:45.18) took honors in the 500 free.
Also turning in first place finishes for the men were Will Carlson (1000 free – 11:21.19), Mike Wade (200 free – 1:59.69), Mike Wong (200 back – 2:13.63) and John Wensman (200 breast – 2:28.41). Henning Demay earned first place points in both of the diving events as the only male competitor.
Dickson Fai, Jeven Dovey, Oliver and Kantor joined together to open the meet with the 400 Medley Relay, finishing in 3:47.15, well ahead of their closest competition.
The men finished out the meet with the 400 free relay which included Kantor, Shapiro-Bernadette, Fai and Dovey who slightly edged out the Whittier team with a time of 3:24.55.
Oxy’s women defeated the Poets by a 153-72 margin, improving their season record to 4-3.
On Friday afternoon Occidental divers gave the Tigers a scoring advantage completing 11-dive sets on both the one and three meter boards. Celeste Faber won both events with scores of 424.50 and 398.85 on the one and three meter boards, respectively. Kyle Owens also competed on both boards, finishing with a score of 371.70 on the one meter and 350.40 on the three meter. Marisa Pulcrano rounded out the scoring with a 292.15 mark to swept the one meter diving events.
Renae Rykaczewski, Lauren Valbracht, Kelsey Fuller and Claire Coddington won the 400 medley relay, with a time of 4:27.29, to kick off the swimming portion of the meet on Saturday.
The women completed a 1-4 sweet in the 200 fly with Fuller (2:26.19) leading the pack followed by Audrey Akcasu (2:32.91), Sarah Hunt (2:33.16) and Robin Hamilton (2:36.83). Oxy landed 1-2 finishes in the 200 free, 50 free and 200 back. Sara Ajifu hit the wall first in the 200 free in a time of 2:06.76 followed by Sara Mendoza (2:09.71). Rykaczewski (27.74) and Michelle Fitts (28.36) were the top two finishers in the 50 free and Eileen McMillan and Mendoza swam the 200 backstroke in times of 2:24.61 and 2:27.74, respectively.
Also adding a first place finish for the Tigers was Erin Brinton who swam the 400 IM in 4:53.85.
Oxy capped off the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay behind Brinton, Akcasu, Rykaczewski and Ajifu who combined to finish in 3:55.86.
The Tigers will host Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, Feb. 9 in the final dual-meet of the 2007-08 season. Tigers and Sagehens will dive into the pool at 11:00 a.m. The time for diving is still to be determined, but will take place at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center.
