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Nov. 22, 2009

 

Day Three Results

Complete Results from Toshiba Classic

LONG BEACH, Calif. - LMU swimmers brushed aside their fatigue on the third straight 10-hour day of competition, shattering three more school records while holding on to their Top-10 finish at the Toshiba Classic on Saturday. The Lions finished 10th of 24 teams with 267 points, just four points behind the University of Utah, which finished with 271. As expected, the top-two places went to Pac-10 powerhouses Stanford (1809.5 points) and California (1137 points), the 2009 National Champion. UCLA rounded out the top-three to make it a sweep for the Pac-10 teams. LMU managed to outscore the remaining Pac-10 school in the competition, Oregon State, who finished well behind in 16th with 131 points. The Lions also bested WCC-rivals San Diego (12th - 190 points) and Pepperdine (18th - 109 points) as well as Big West teams, UC Davis (14th - 160 points) and Cal State Northridge (15th - 143 points).

Tammy Choy again got the Lions off to a strong start on the day with a 21st-place finish in the 200 backstroke with a season-best time of 2:05.53. Freshman Noelani Vargas and sophomore Dempsey Haynosch posted personal-best times in the same event. Vargas' time of 2:11.25 enters LMU's All-Time Top-10 list in eighth place, while Haynosch maintained the ninth spot on the list.

Once again senior Anne Scott and junior Isabell Zhang led the LMU sprinters to success in the 100 freestyle, with Scott winning the consolation final in 50.32 for a ninth-place finish overall, knocking over six-tenths of a second off her school record set at last season's PCSC Championships. Zhang also dropped her personal-best by the same amount, finishing in 13th place with a 51.45 (51.33 in prelims), fourth-best in LMU history.

Freshman Camille Hopp continued the Lion's assault on the record board, slashing almost a second and a half off the existing school record in the 200 breaststroke, and finishing the evening finals in 27th with a 2:22.18. Senior Trinity O'Neill kept the record streak going in the final individual event of the evening by improving .54 seconds on her 2007 school record in the 200 butterfly. O'Neill's new mark of 2:05.16 was good for 20th place.

The Lions ended the three-day competition with another fifth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, utilizing the same quartet that captured fifth in the 200 freestyle relay on Thursday. Junior Carolyn Pasque led off with a personal-best time of 52.08, slicing over half a second from her previous best, which moves her up to fifth on LMU's All-Time Top-10 list behind relay teammates, Scott, Alicia Witter and Zhang. The relay touched in 3:26.98, tying the program and conference record set at the PCSC Championships last February. The sprinting foursome is now within two seconds from a "B" time standard to qualify for the NCAA National Championships in March.

Other Lions that achieved personal-best times on the last day of competition included sophomore Jillian Dahle in the 1650 freestyle, posting the fourth-fastest time in LMU program history with a 17:50.10 in only her second attempt at the grueling distance event. Vargas completed her assault on her personal-best times (five-for-five in those chances) adding a 100 freestyle time, while junior Katie Carmody inched her previous best in the 200 butterfly down to 2:08.26 to continue to hold the third-fastest time in LMU program history.

"This was, by far, the most competitive competition that our team has seen since the program was started here at LMU," Head Coach Bonnie Adair said. "The Stanford women were tapered and posted some of the fastest times in the country this year, and the returning Cal swimmers, from last season's NCAA Championship team, were also intimidating in the water and physically. I had concerns going into the competition regarding how well our swimmers would stand up to this elite level of play, and I am excited by how aggressive and competitive we were. I wasn't expecting so many program records to be broken at this mid-point in our season. 11 of our swimmers are headed to Seattle in two weeks to compete in the National Championships, which is the highest level of USA Swimming competition outside of the Olympic Trials. Our swimmers proved to me that they belong there, and it should be a great experience for them. It will also greatly increase the exposure of our program here at LMU."

The Lions return to action on December 2 when they hit the road and visit Seattle University for a dual meet prior to the U.S. National Championships.

Loyola Marymount University Women's Swimming