Athenas Battle Cal Baptist in Distance Meet

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – On Friday afternoon the No. 17 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's swimming and diving team took the pool against Division II No. 14 Cal Baptist for their first competition in over a month. The Lancers topped the Athenas 142-98 in the distance dual, but the Athenas featured strong performances in a number of events on the day.

CMS won four events, highlighted by a sweep of the 100 Free. Natalia Orbach-Mandel (HMC) won the race with a time of 54.60 and four Athenas joined her to round out the top-five. Orbach-Mandel (24.67) also won the 50 Free, touching ahead of teammate Laura Dickinson (CMC). Dickinson (25.55) finished second and earned four valuable points for the Athenas.

Maia Presti (SC) claimed the one-meter diving competition with 286.65 points, more than 20 points ahead of the second-place finisher. Claire Bacon-Brenes (SC) won the 300 Breast by more than nine seconds to account for the other CMS victories on Friday.

As mentioned, the most impressive race of the afternoon for CMS was the 100 Free that saw Orbach-Mandel (54.60), Riley Hoffman (CMC - 54.77), Janet Tran (CMC - 56.12), Shannon Steele (CMC - 57.68), and Madison Blumer (SC - 58.04) finishing one through five.

In addition to winning the one-meter diving competition, Presti finished second in three-meter diving with a score of 212.78. Emily Bhatt (CMC), was just behind Presti in third with a score of 190.05.

Allie Umemoto (SC) and Riley Hoffman each took second place finishes in the 300 Fly and the 200 Free, respectively. Umemoto finished the 300 Fly in 3:35.55 and Hoffman touched in 1:57.88 in the 200 Free.

The Athenas took top three performaces in both of the relays. In the 500 Medley Relay the team of Andrea Ibrahim (CMC), Bacon-Brenes, Tran, and Umemoto took third with a time of 5:26.51. Then in the 500 Free Relay the team of Anne Jang (CMC), Umemoto, Hoffman, and Tran took second touching in 4:47.20. The 500 Free Relay also featured the team of Malka Kausar (CMC), Emma Stacy (SC), Elizabeth Carrade (CMC), and Mia Syme (CMC) finishing in third with a time of 4:57.60.

The Athenas will next be in action on Wednesday when they host Whitman at 2:00 p.m. in Axelrood Pool.