The 2016 SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships ended with Pomona-Pitzer running away with the women’s team title and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps claiming its ninth straight men’s team title. The victory for Pomona-Pitzer also ended a 13-year streak previously held by CMS.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s team made a late push on the final day down 18 points, but outscored Pomona-Pitzer by 42 to claim its ninth straight SCIAC team title.
In the women’s standings, the Sagehens finished with 1,044 points and rival CMS took second with a score of 964, followed by Redlands in third place with 658.5 points. Chapman emerged from a tight pack of schools from fourth to seventh with 385 points. Occidental followed with 371 points, Cal Lutheran had 363 and Whittier had 351. La Verne took eighth with 295 and Caltech placed ninth with 233.5.
After coming in to the final day with the lead, Pomona-Pitzer took second with a score of 1044. Rounding out the top three was Redlands with 572 points and Cal Lutheran finished fourth with 435 points. Whittier separated themselves from a close group from fifth to seventh posting 368 points. Occidental finished sixth with 351 points and following them was University of La Verne with 328.5. Coming in eighth with a score of 260 was Caltech and in ninth was Chapman with 210.5.
At the end of the meet individual honors were awarded. Pomona-Pitzer head coach JP Gowdy swept the Coach of the Year honors. CMS’ Matt Williams took home Male Athlete of the Year honors while teammate Stephanie Doi earned Female Athlete of the Year honors. Newcomer of the Year honors went to Zack Amendola from Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer’s Maddie Kauahi.
Cal Lutheran’s Jonah Hobbs swam an NCAA “B” cut to take home the SCIAC title in the 1650 free with a time of 15:58.20. Pomona-Pitzer’s Thomas Turner finished second with a time of 15:59.01 and La Verne’s Brandon Pon took third with a time of 16:04.49.
Defending her SCIAC title in the 1650 free, Kelsey Thomas from Pomona-Pitzer swam an NCAA “B” cut time of 17:19.60. CMS’ Lauren Rosenbrger and Elizabeth Carrade took second and third respectively, both with NCAA “B” cut times. Rosenberger posted a 17:24.49 and Carrade a 17:31.83.
Matthew Williams took home CMS’ first SCIAC title of the day in the men’s 200 back, swimming an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:47.91. Cory Johnson from CMS took second with a time of 1:52.83 and Erik Garcia from Pomona-Pitzer finished third at 1:52.87.
Pomona-Pitzer’s Sarah Jin won the women’s 200 back with a time of 2:04.79, just missing the NCAA “B” cut time. In second place, Kate Canfield from University of Redlands posted a 2:06.11 and in third Riley Hoffman finished with a time of 2:07.22.
Noah Deer from CMS set a new SCIAC meet record and took home the title in the men’s 100 free with a time of 44.94. Pomona-Pitzer’s Mark Hallman took second with a time of 44.96 and finishing in third place with a time of 45.25 was CMS’ Alex Poltash.
CMS’ Kelly Ngo edged past Pomona-Pitzer’s Madison Kauahi to take home the women’s 100 free title with a NCAA “B” cut time of 51.05. Kauahi posted a 51.09 also a NCAA “B” cut time and Karly Carazo of Whittier finished in third with a 52.39.
Aaron Lutzker from CMS took home the men’s 200 breast with a time of 2:03.76. Whittier’s Tony Martir placed second with a time of 2:04.14 and in third was Teddy Koerner of Pomona-Pitzer with a time of 2:04.44. The top-5 finishers from the men’s 200 breast all finished with NCAA “B” cut times.
For the third year in a row, Emily McKinnon won the women’s 200 breast with a NCAA “B” cut time of 2:21.54. Ellie O’Brien from Occidental College took second with a time of 2:24.63 and Kayla Flaten finished third with a time of 2:25.31.
Taking home the SCIAC title in the men’s 200 fly from CMS, Matt Valentine with a time of 1:48.90. It was a battle for second place, but John Everett of CMS took the number two spot with a time of 1:51.37 and finishing third was Samuel To with a time of 1:51.61. The top-5 finishers in the men’s 200 fly also all finished with NCAA “B” cut times.
Kara Miller-Radest defended her SCIAC title from last year in the women’s 200 fly, finishing with a time of 2:04.57. From Cal Lutheran, Alexia Rojas finished second with a time of 2:06.38 and in third Brittany Percin from Caltech with a time of 2:07.05. The top-4 finishers in the women’s 200 fly all finished with NCAA “B” cut times.
The CMS men’s 400 free relay took home the SCIAC title in the final race of the evening. They also set a new SCIAC meet record and came in well under the NCAA “B” cut time posting a 3:00.87. In second with a time of 3:02.83 was Pomona-Pitzer and finishing in third with a time of 3.04.48 was Cal Lutheran.
In the final event of the evening, the CMS women’s 400 relay team would take home the victory with a time of 3:28.54. Pomona-Pitzer came in a close second posting a 3:29.01 and in third Whittier College finished with a time of 3:34.61.
SCIAC contributed this report.
