BEN YOUNG/Photo Editor
Junior Nicole Okuna finished second in the 50- and
100-yard butterfly events over the weekend.
Swimming and Diving
LINDSEY BESECKER
Sports Editor
Members of the Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team had an impressive opening meet last weekend when it hosted the Wave Malibu Invitational.
“Our team dominated all the other teams,” sophomore diver Lindsay Stephens said. “We did really well and came out really strong. We’ve been working really hard.”
Freshman Michelle Sutherland took the overall high point in the meet as well as the distance high point for her performance, while Stephens earned the diving high point, and junior Ketrina Lemmen helped sweep the top honors with the sprint high point.
“The idea was to swim as fast in our first meet this year as we did in out last meet last year,” Head Coach Nick Rodionoff said. “And a lot of kids did that.”
The meet was held Saturday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool and featured local teams from Pepperdine, Biola University, California Lutheran University and Loyola Marymount University.
Sutherland raced in five sprint heats and three distance heats to win the overall high point for the meet, as well as the distance high point.
She swept the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events.
“It’s what I was hoping for,” Sutherland said. “That was my goal going into the meet.”
Rodionoff said he was surprised at Sutherland’s showing at the meet.
“We knew she was talented but we didn’t know she could swim that fast,” he said. “That was amazing.”
Lemmen finished ahead of the pack in the 50- and 100-yard backstroke events and placed second in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle to claim the sprint high point.
Stephens qualified for the NCAA tournament for winning the high point in diving. She won the one- and three-meter diving events. She did not compete in NCAA last year.
“I feel very fortunate and lucky to have done so well in the very first meet,” Stephens said.
Rodionoff said the season will be strong as long as the team’s members can stay healthy.
He said one of last season’s best swimmers, junior Nicole Okuna, is recovering from mono.
“We’re looking for the best year we’ve ever had, but a lot of things always happen,” Rodionoff said. “There’s still some questions. If we get everyone healthy, we’re going to be very good.”
However, Okuna still performed well last weekend despite not being 100 percent healthy. She finished right behind Sutherland in the 50- and 100-yard butterfly.
Freshman Erin Kephart performed well also. She won the 100-yard breaststroke and finished second in the 50-yard breaststroke.
The Waves compete again this weekend at the Big West Shootout held at University of California, Irvine.
The diving team’s next home meet will be Nov. 13 against LMU and California State University, Northridge.
The whole team will not compete at home again until Jan. 14 when it takes on Northridge.
“(We are) looking for a consistent pattern, getting through every meet and just winning,” Stephens said of the rest of the season.
11-04-2004