The USC women’s swimming program opened the season with a 138.5-112.5 victory against Utah in Salt Lake City.
USC Press Release:
Junior Chelsea Chenault, sophomore Hannah Weiss and freshman Riley Scott won twice each as the USC women’s swimming team kicked off the 2015-16 with a convincing win at Utah on Saturday (October 3).
Out of the gate the impact of transfer Anika Apostalon was felt with her anchor leg on the winning 200y medley relay. Apostalon capitalized on the lead she was handed her by her teammates Weiss, Scott and senior Lucy Worrall.
The many freshmen on this year’s squad, in their first Pac-12 meet, stepped up to the early challenge and made their presence felt with wins by Allie Wooden (1000y free), Scott (100y and 200y breast), Madison Wright (200y fly) and Hanni Leach (200y back).
Upperclassman leadership was strongly demonstrated by Chenault with wins in the 200 and 500 free, Apostalon in 100y free, Weiss in 100y back and 100y fly and junior Evan Swenson in the 50y free.
“It was a great start to the season,” Head Coach Dave Salo said. “This team reminds me of our team in 2010 when we took third at the NCAA. Lots of energy and a lot of focus. This team will be a strong group at the Pac-12s and NCAAs.”
Utah Press Release:
The Utah women’s swimming and diving won four events but fell short against #12 USC, 138.5-112.5, this Saturday afternoon at the Ute Natatorium.
“Obviously it was a pretty lopsided meet,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “Im proud of the way some of our girls raced especially the freshman. They really stepped up and showed us some stuff in their first real college dual meet. We were pretty significantly short handed today. We have a lot of people out sick, it was not our full length lineup and that was apparent. But I am proud of the way people stepped up to do more races than they would need to or different races that they would need to when we are in full strength.”
The Utes opened up the meet with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay as the team of Megan Kawaguchi, Stina Colleou, Petra Soininen and Gillian St. John touched in at 1:45.71.
In the 1,000 free, Jordan Anderson took third with a time of 10:28.20 with Kat Wickham following in fourth (10:37.50).
Hailey Pabst touched in third in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.00. Darby Wayner took fifth in the event (1:56.44) with Maryssa McArthur in sixth (1:59.95).
Taking third in the 100 breast was Kawaguchi with a time of 57.69. Ashlyn Karosas took fifth (1:01.22) with Jenna Griffith in sixth (1:01.26).
Claiming second and third in the 100 breast was second-place Stina Colleou touching in at 1:04.67 with Genevieve Robertonson following in third (1:05.27). Julienne Tadena took seventh with a time of 1:07.75 and Sydney Bull took eighth (1:08.14).
Colleou took second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:20.39 with Robertson in third (2:21.59). Also in the event was Brianna Francis who took fourth (2:22.65) and Tadena in eighth (2:29.78).
In the 200 fly, Isabelle Kearns touched in second with a time of 2:01.78. Paolina Carnevale took fourth in the event (2:12.26) with Maddie Velez in sixth (2:15.37).
Dorien Butter took third in the 100 free with a time of 53.08. Tying for fourth was Rhianna Williams and USC’s Evan Swenson touching in at 53.16.
Taking fourth in the 200 back was Kawaguchi with a time of 2:07.32 followed by Hailey Pabst in fifth (2:08.22) and Jenna Griffith in sixth (2:15.72).
Anderson took first in the 500 free with a time of 5:03.98 with Wickham in second (5:19.37) and McArthur in third (5:26.87). Velez took fourth in the event (5:30.90).
In the 100 fly, claiming the top spot was Jenna Marsh with a time of 57.54. Soininen took second (57.63) with Bull in third (1:00.04) and Karosas in fourth (1:01.33).
Taking first in the 200 IM was Francis with a time of 2:07.97. Taking second in the event was Anderson (2:09.17) with Kearns in third (2:14.15) and Karosas in fourth (2:16.35).
To finish the meet, team of St.John, Butter, Wayner and Williams teamed together to take first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:33.29. In second was team of Marsh, Tadena, Pabst and McArthur with a time of 3:38.71.
The Utes will host their annual Alumni meet next weekend on Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m. MT. The team will then travel on Oct.15 to Berkeley, Calif. where they will take on Cal at 5 p.m. PT.
Destiny Nelson, USC freshman , won the 200 IM and took 2nd in the 200 back. Why no mention?