JENNA SHAY
Staff Writer
The Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team continued its successful season last weekend at the Big West Shootout in Irvine. The Waves beat University of San Diego, CSU Northridge and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in three of their four dual meets on Saturday while boasting top-three performances in almost every event.
Sophomore Kady Skora led the Waves in the distance races by placing second in the 500 free (5:17.48) and third in the 1,000 free (10:56.22).
Stepping up for the Waves was freshman Haley Wilson, who swam to three top-three finishes. Living up to the hype about her ability in the pool, she placed first in the 200 IM (2:11.63), second in both the 100 free (53:78) and the 200 free (1:57.25).
Also representing the Waves on the leader board was senior Heather Brehmer, who placedthird in the 50 free (25.09) in Saturday’s events. She was pleased with the team and the results.
“Friday was a great day for individuals to go out and race against tough teams like Stanford and Hawaii,” Brehmer said. “Saturday was more of a team day. We came together to try and beat the other schools and we succeeded.”
The highlight performance of the weekend belongs to senior Lauren Velarde who clocked in the second best 200 breaststroke time (2:25.85) in school history. This time was enough to earn a third-place finish at the meet.
Remaining consistently strong, junior Lindsay Stephens captured first place in both the one- and three-meter dives.
The weekend proved to be a test of the Waves’ depth and teamwork as they competed without a few of their best swimmers, including senior Ketrina Lemmen and junior Alison McLeod.
“The great thing about this meet was that even the girls whose shoulders were bothering them tried to push through at least one of their events,” Brehmer said. “Our sick swimmers were encouraging others on the team. It would have been nice to have a full team, but that’s more important come the end of the season.”
Head Coach Nick Rodionoff said he felt good about how the women performed at this early meet.
“All the kids had a very, very good meet for this early in the year,” Rodionoff said. “Missing some of our swimmers didn’t bother the girls at all, and that’s a good sign.”
The Waves’ successful start on the season has sparked a contagious winning spirit within the team.
“If you swim fast, it spreads,” Rodionoff said. “We can sense it’s a strong team.”
Next up for the Waves is the Loyola Marymont Pentathlon in Los Angeles on Nov. 12. The meet will serve as a chance to prepare for the upcoming Speedo Cup where Pepperdine will get a chance to challenge Stanford, Hawaii and other top schools in the country.
11-10-2005