Nothing like 21 top-10 finishes to break in the new pool.
Pepperdine swimmers made a splash at the Malibu Invitational Friday and Saturday with impressive finishes across the board.
“I think we were all ready to get out there and fight to prove just how good we’re going to be this year,” freshman Kathrine Kuhlmann said.
Kuhlmann’s teammate, sophomore Allison Naasz, agreed:
“We’ve all been working extremely hard in the pool and are looking really amazing this year. It’s still early on in the season to be peaking completely, but we had some really cool, surprising swims … My teammates looked great in the water.”
Sophomore Jessica Mosbaugh was a huge asset to the Waves in their debut home competition, winning five events and placing in the top 10 in four additional races.
In her first race of the meet, Mosbaugh took first in the 400 individual medley, with Naasz right behind her in second.
Sophomore Ellyn Strampel and freshman Sydney Newman had success in the three-meter dive, placing first and second, and freshman Emily Parks won the 1650 freestyle, beating her closest competitor by more than 15 seconds.
Freshman Kristine Pataray placed first in the 50 butterfly and second in the 50 freestyle, while Mosbaugh won the 50 backstroke and the 50, 100 and 200-meter breaststrokes.
Other top-10 finishers were senior Stephanie Ertl, sophomores Emma Fitzsimmons and Nicolette Barreiro and freshmen Erin Himes, Kelly Presper, Kuhlmann and Laura Graziano.
“We didn’t have extremely high expectations, as it’s still the beginning of the season, but I think we all exceeded most of the expectations there were for us,” Kuhlmann said. “We all really pulled our own weight and it was awesome to see the hard work pay off in each race.”
Naasz showed optimism in her post-meet comments, remarking how excited and confident she is to delve into her second season.
“I’m happy with where I am now, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how this team is going to develop,” Naasz said. “I think we are going to be pretty incredible come conference.”
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Follow Alenni Nemitz on Twitter: @alooney_toons94
As published in the Oct. 31 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.