Stags Come Up Short at Redlands

The CMS Stag swimming and diving squad traveled to Redlands on Saturday, but came up short in the SCIAC battle.  As has been the case for each of the past 15 seasons, the Stags and Bulldogs entered their contest with unblemished SCIAC records.  At 6-0 in league, the teams squared off for a final test prior to the conference championship meet.  The final score was 144-99 in favor of the home team.

The Stags earned the early momentum in the meet.  Divers Andrew Fevery and Garrett Smith took first and second on the 3-meter springboard.  CMS extended the lead with first and third place finishes in the 400 medley relay.  The "A" relay of Blake Weber, Vincent Pai, Jordan Lieberman and Devin Bowers set a new pool record with a time of 3:31.34.  California Baptist University set the previous mark of 3:33.74 in 2004.

The Stags' lead was short-lived as Redlands won the 1650 freestyle and 200 freestyle events.  In the 50 free, Bowers nearly narrowed the score, but placed second by a slim .04 seconds.  The Stags' Vincent Pai finished the 200 IM in 1:58.56, which was under the pool record of 1:58.90, but only good enough for third in the race.

Another exciting battle shaped up in the 200 yard butterfly.  Three Stags broke two minutes in the race, led by Brendan Huss's 1:56.62.  Huss's time was .05 faster than the previous pool record, but the performance was half a second short of the winning time.  Senior Nick Ostreim and junior Austin Hallett took first and second place in the 200 backstroke race.  CMS also placed first and second in the 200 breaststroke, with Vincent Pai leading teammate Bo Lee.

With the conclusion of the dual meet season, CMS now gears up for the SCIAC Championships.  SCIAC diving prelims are Saturday and Sunday at Pomona-Pitzer.  SCIAC finals will be February 20-22 at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.