In its last meet of the regular season and final tuneup before conference championships the Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team put forth a solid effort Saturday morning at the PCSC Time Trials in Malibu. The Waves captured 11 of 13 swimming events from regional rivals Azusa Pacific Soka and Concordia.
“I think our coach was happy with the way we swam because we weren’t expected to get our best times said junior Dani Kimmel. The other teams there didn’t really give us much of a competition.”
Before the races began the team continued its annual tradition of paying homage to its seniors by honoring Jessica Brakulis Michelle Fadley Sara Kallman Alyson Loyd Lauren Meagher Amanda Pond Adria Stoliar and Haley Wilson.
Several Waves earned first-place finishes with Wilson freshman Rachel Cotè and juniors Kimmel and Marissa McDaniel each winning two events.
Pepperdine swept the top six spots in the 200-yard individual medley. Wilson finished first with her season-best time of 2:10.30 followed by freshman Madison Krall (2:11.12) Kimmel (2:17.09) and sophomore Kelly Donovan (2:20.83).
Cote took the gold in the 50-yard freestyle clocking in at 25.03 ahead of teammates sophomore Kayleen Hicks (25.25) junior Ali Chester (25.60) and Wilson (25.68).
Other top performers for the Waves included sophomore Francesca Cyphers who finished at 58.91 to win the 100-yard butterfly in her only race of the day and junior Brianna Blanchard who notched a victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:01.15.
According to Kimmel and Blanchard the team was fatigued from a vigorous week of practicing prior to the meet. She said Head Coach Nick Rodionoff is pushing his players in practice to prepare them for conference finals.
“I think the majority of our team was broken down Kimmel said.
Blanchard, who will be participating at the championships in three distance events, said she feels ready to swim against some of the conference’s best competitors.
I feel very prepared Blanchard said. I’m very excited. Last week I had two really really good practices … I’m very pumped.”
The PCSC Championships will take place Feb. 18-21 in Long Beach Calif.
Rodionoff said he has yet to determine his final roster for the finals but the team must be prepared for the unexpected. Last year then-senior Ali McLeod sprained her ankle just before the championships and could not participate in the first day of the meet.
“They’ve got the edge right now Rodionoff said. They can swim very fast and very emotionally … If the emotions get too high too soon they can’t hold it. We got to keep things relatively low key for a week or so then build up from there. We’re on pace I think we’re handling it very well.”