JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine women’s swim and dive team received six first-place finishes against Loyola Marymount, but it wasn’t enough to topple the Lions as the Waves fell 155-139 Jan. 19 at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
As the wind picked up, the teams faced tough conditions inside and outside the pool.
Leading the Waves was junior Ali McLeod, who took first place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.08 and the 200 IM with a time of 2:23.59. McLeod also swam to a second-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 52.73.
Senior Nicole Okuna grabbed first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.03.
Also gaining a victory was the 400 relay team of seniors Ketrina Lemmen and Heather Brehmer, McLeod, and freshman Haley Wilson with a time of 3:42.72, while the 200 medley relay of Lemmen, senior Lauren Velarde, Okuna and Brehmer placed second in 1:50.38.
Other notable Wave performances included sophomore Kady Skora, who placed second in the 1000 free with a time of 11:04.08, as well as Wilson, who placed second in the 200 free (1:56.05) and the 200 IM (2:13.38). Brehmer took second in the 50 free with a time of 24.17, while senior Chelsea Zink swam to second place in the 200 backstroke in 2:17.84.
“We had some great performances,” said Head Coach Nick Rodionoff. “It is difficult to have consistent performances after Christmas break, but hopefully we will be gaining consistency from now until the conference meet.”
Although the Waves automatically won the diving point because the Lions do not sponsor a diving team, Pepperdine gave strong performances. Junior Lindsey Stephens-Adarme took first place in both the one-meter and three-meter dives.
“The divers, as always, were very strong,” Rodionoff said. “But, we needed eight more points from the rest of the team, and we didn’t get it.”
Pepperdine is back in the pool Friday when it faces Cal Poly and San Diego State in a double dual meet in San Luis Obispo at noon.
“We beat both of those teams in the Irvine Invitational,” Rodionoff said of the Waves’ upcoming competition. “However, this time we will be using a different format.”
Because it is the last opportunity for some of the Waves to qualify for the team that competes in conference, Rodionoff wants to give all his athletes a chance to do their best.
“Basically, our lineup will be set up to give our athletes the best opportunities, and not necessarily the lineup that will score the most points,” he said. “The conference meet is very early this year so we have to prepare for that more than concentrating on a dual meet, as the conference meet is the most important meet of the year for us.”
01-26-2006