CMS Sweeps Caltech and Whittier
The CMS swimming and diving teams opened the 2012-13 SCIAC season with a pair of sweeps. The Stags and Athenas faced Whittier and Caltech at Whittier College on Saturday, December 1, in a double-dual meet. The Athenas beat Caltech 245 to 35 and topped Whittier 215 to 76. The Stags defeated Caltech 253 to 45 and Whittier 245 to 53. CMS won all 32 events contested on the day.
Nine CMS student-athletes earned double individual-event victories on the day. Divers Carmen Lundell and James Stevick won their respective 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions. Judge Lee took the 100 and 200 breaststroke races, earning a spot on the CMS top 10 list with his 59.64 in the 100 yard distance. LillyBelle Deer won the 200 and 500 yard freestyle races. Maddie Crawford sprinted to first in the 50 and 100 freestyle swims. Cory Johnson paced himself to victory in the 1000 free then and returned to win the 200 backstroke. Kaela Nurmi earned first in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Matt Valentine won back-to-back races, besting the fields in both the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley. Conrad Shabb made a strong impression in his Stag swimming debut, winning the 100 backstroke and then even-split his 500 freestyle for a victory in that event.
"We're happy to start the SCIAC season with strong performances," said Coach Charlie Griffiths. "I think we had about 25 swimmers and divers who won events either individually, or part of relays. The day's success was a full team effort and we know that we'll need to continue those efforts to meet our goals next semester."
Nine additional Athenas and Stags won individual races. Sophomore Louisa Dunwiddie posted a CMS top-ten time, clocking in at 10:50.08 in the 1000 yard freestyle. Other Athena winners were Mackenzie Marrs (100 breaststroke), Maya Kale (200 butterfly), Maddy Gebhard (200 breaststroke) and Olivia Graham (200 IM). Stags at the top of the podium were Cameron Whiting (200 freestyle), Patrick Shultz (200 butterfly), Joey Hinton (100 freestyle), and Devin Bowers (50 freestyle).
CMS won each of the day's relay events. Elsa Cheng, Gebhard, Erin MacLean and Deer won the women's 200 medley relay, while Blake Weber, Zach Alleva, Jordan Lieberman and Hinton won the men's medley. MacLean, Rachelle Holmgren, Ali Fisher and Deer won the women's 200 free relay. Hinton, Weber, Martin Sartorius and Shultz capped the day with a win in the men's 200 free relay.
The CMS student-athletes will take a multi-week break from competition to focus on final exams. The next meet will be versus the University of La Verne at CMS's Axelrood Pool on Saturday, January 5, 2013.