Records fell last weekend in the first swim meet of the year for the Westmont women’s swimming team.
The Warriors hosted a two-day event on Friday and Saturday at the Montecito campus’ pool with Arizona Christian and Soka and came away with first place. Westmont posted 178 points to Arizona Christian’s 126 and Soka’s 39.
The meet was conducted without the presence of head coach Jill Jones Lin, who is out on maternity leave after the recent birth of her son Caden Lluka Lin. In her absence, Gregg Wilson took the lead with the help of fellow assistant coaches Megan Bergthold and Hannah Holman.
Freshman Ella Chaisson from Burbank rewrote three Warrior records. She won both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke while setting school records with times of 1:10.12 and 2:30.48 respectively. Chaisson also established a new school record (4:40.66) while taking first place in the 400 yard individual medley relay. All three times were within the “B” qualifying standard for the NAIA National Championships.
Posting a school record in the 200-yard butterfly was freshman Olivia Garrison of Roseville. Her time of 2:22.52 earned her second place in the event. Garrison won the 1,000-yard freestyle, posting a time of 11:14.85, which is the fourth fastest time in Westmont history. Garrison’s time of 4:55.72 resulted in a second-place finish in the women’s 400 yard individual medley, which was also the fourth fastest time in the record books.
Sophomore Bridget Hoth won the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle races for the Warriors in a times of 25.79, 57.19 and 2:06.45 respectively. Junior Kassy Gregory came in second in 200-yard freestyle, touching the final wall in a time of 2:10.03.
Junior Rian Lewandowski claimed first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.46. Fellow junior Morgan Bienias won the 200 yard backstroke, finishing in a time of 2:16.52. In the 500 yard freestyle, Bienias won with a time of 5:33.54.
In the relay events, which were conducted on Friday, Westmont touched out its competitors in four of nine events. In the 400 yard medley relay, Lewandowski, Chaisson, Garrison and Hoth teamed up to finish with a time of 4:13.05, the second best time in Westmont’s records.
The 3 x 100-yard medley relay saw Lewandowski, Gregory and Bienias finish in a time of 3:18.43. Bienias, Garrison and Chaisson won the 3 x 100-yard butterfly in a time of 3:08.97. Chaisson, Lewandowski and Holley Fellows posted a time of 3:47.96 in the 3 x 100-yard breaststroke.
The team will be back in action next weekend when the Warriors travel to Pepperdine for the Malibu Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.
email: dmason@newspress.com
