Posted: Feb 17, 2016

Swimming & Diving SCIAC Championships Preview

LA MIRADA, Calif. – The SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships get underway on Feb. 18 at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center and run from Feb. 18-21. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swimming & diving programs have a lengthy streak of SCIAC Championships in tact and they look to stay atop the conference again this season once competition starts Thursday. The Athenas won the SCIAC Championships last season which marked the 13th-consecutive year and 17th time overall, while the Stags in 2015 clinched their eighth-straight title and 35^th conference championship in program history. This season, the Stags are 8-0 in SCIAC dual meets. The Athenas are 7-1 after a narrow defeat (152-146) to Pomona-Pitzer on Feb. 6.

Event Info
On Day 1, men's 3-meter diving preliminaries start off the action at 10:30 a.m. Day 1 swimming finals begin at 5 p.m. Day 2 preliminaries start at 9 a.m. and finals begin at 4 p.m. with the women's 1-meter diving event. Day 3 preliminaries start at 9 a.m. and finals begin at 4 p.m. with the men's 1-meter diving event. Day 4 preliminaries start at 9 a.m. and the women's 3-meter diving finals start at 1:30 p.m. Day 4 swimming finals start at 5 p.m. with the senior recognition preceding the finals at 4:45 p.m.

SCIAC Championships webpage

*The SCIAC has mandated a $10 fee to watch conference championships and postseason tournaments.

Stags Preview
Of the 20 events competed in during the season on the men's side, CMS has the top times/marks in 15 of the events, which includes both the 1 and 3-meter dives and four relay events (800 free, 200 free, 400 medley, 400 free). Sophomore Patrick Quarberg (CMC) had the top 1 and 3-meter dives.

Other Stags with top seed times are: senior Matthew Valentine (HMC – 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly), senior Alex Poltash (CMC – 50 free, 100 free, 200 free), freshman Jackson Crewe (HMC – 400 IM), junior Matthew Williams (CMC – 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke) and freshman Aaron Lutzker (HMC – 200 breaststroke). Lutzker's 200 breaststroke time of 2:05.29 is the fifth-fastest time on the top-10 list for the Stags.

Psych Sheet
NCAA Qualifying Marks

Athenas Preview
CMS has the top times/marks in seven events heading into the SCIAC Championships. Junior Carli Lessard (HMC) has the highest marks in both dives. Junior Stephanie Doi (CMC) joins Lessard as the two Athenas who have top marks in two different individual events (100 butterfly and 200 butterfly). In the 200 breaststroke, junior Emily McKinnon (CMC) edged out a pair of Pomona-Pitzer swimmers with a time of 2:25.53 for the top seed heading into SCIACs.

The CMS 'A' 800 free relay team for the Athenas enters the SCIAC Championships with nearly a seven-second advantage for the top time in the event. The CMS 'A' 400 free relay team also has a top time (3:33.94), but the margin over Pomona-Pitzer (3:34.31), the next closest team, is much slimmer.

Psych Sheet
NCAA Qualifying Marks

The NCAA Division III Championships follow the SCIAC Championships for the CMS swimmers and divers who have qualified already, or do qualify during the weekend at the SCIAC Championships. NCAA diving preliminaries are on Feb. 26-27 in Grinnell, Iowa and the NCAA Championships are March 16-19 in Greensboro, N.C.

By Chris Watts
Director of Athletics Communication
Claremont McKenna College

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