CMS Men's Swimming and Diving Concludes Regular Season with Strong Showing

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team had its final tuneup before the SCIAC Championships at Axelrood Pool on Saturday, hosting Pomona-Pitzer in the CMS Invitational.

The invitational was a loose format with no team scoring and mixed relays, with the Stags and Athenas both competing on the same relay teams against the Sagehens, as both squads used the finale to fine-tune before the conference championships get underway. 

After CMS was second in the mixed medley relay to open the meet, the Stags performed well in the ensuing freestyle events. Senior Ben Culberson won the 500-yard freestyle for the Stags in 4:38.74. Junior Daniel Hayon took first in the 50 free in 21.62 seconds, first-year Thayer Breazeale took first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:43.42, and sophomore Matthew Waddell won the 1650 in 16:37.64. The Stags were very close to a freestyle sweep, but first-year Nathan Luis was just .13 behind winner Tag Curwen of Pomona-Pitzer in the 100 free. 

Walter Limm was the winner in both breaststroke events, taking the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.26 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:09.55. Sam Willett took first in the 200 back in 1:53.95, and Waddell added his second individual win in the 200 fly. 

CMS capped off the meet with a win in the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay, with juniors Andreas Roeseler and Marco Conati swimming the first two legs, and Athenas Ava Sealander and Natalia Orbach-Mandel swimming the third and fourth legs. The quartet finished in 1:30.42, to beat Pomona-Pitzer by almost a full second (1:31.24). 

The Stags will next be in action when they host the SCIAC Diving Championships on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 15-16, as senior Kendall Hollimon will look to cap off an undefeated career in league championships. The swimming portion of the SCIAC Championships will be from Feb. 20-23 in Commerce, California.