SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific swimming competed in an away dual meet at Westmont College Saturday morning. The Cougars won 10 of the 13 events and were led by the usual suspects, Amanda Anderson, Montana White, and Riley Smith each winning multiple events. This was the final meet for Azusa Pacific before the Holiday break later this month.
"The meet was another opportunity for us to come together as a team and race," head coach Tim Kyle said. "We are continuing to train hard with the eyes set on the PCSC Championships in February."
How it Happened: The meet began with the 200 medley relay as both of Azusa Pacific's top teams earned the first and second spots. The "A" team was led by Marci Yanagawa, Anderson, Tessie Scavone, and White as they finished with a time of 1:52.96. The Cougars "B" team, led by Nicole Barton, Delanie Gearing, Emily Rigsby, and Smith earned second with a time of 1:55.31.
In the next event, Anderson swam faster than the field finishing in first in the 200 free with a time of 2:00.47. Hannah Frey placed second with a time of 2:03.75.
Smith would take first in the 100 IM with a time of 1:02.17 which was over a second faster than the rest of the field. Before White just edged out two teammates in the 50 fly with a time of 27.24. Anderson was just 12 tenths of a second behind while Barton's time in third was 27.82.
Yanagawa was then edged out by Anderson in the 50 back by 26 tenths of a second as Anderson placed first with a time of 29.22. In the next event, Gearing took first with a time of 32.13 in the 50 breast before White followed that up with a win in the 50 free with a time of 24.91. Smith and Anderson both followed closely behind in second and third.
In the long distance event (1000 free), Smith recorded the best time with a 11:03.19 finish which was followed by Scavone (11:05.08) and Gearing (11:10.06). Anderson, Barton, and Connor Herrin took the top three spots in the 100 fly as Anderson finished with a time of 1:00.37.
In the closest race of the day, Yanagawa finished in second place in the 100 back with a time of 1:04.20 which was just behind the leader by three tenths of a second. Frey placed third in the same event with a time of 1:06.00.
To close out the individual races, the Cougars took the top five spots in both the 100 breast and the 100 free. White took first in the 100 breast (1:09.98) and second in the 100 free (55.19), while Smith won the 100 free with a time of 55.07. Among others, Gearing recorded a time of 1:10.49 in the 100 breast which was good enough for second place.
The Cougars would round out the day with the 200 free relay as the "A" team recorded a time of 1:42.42 which was led by Smith, Holly Williams, Scavone, and Rigsby. The "B" team recorded a time of 1:45.78 as they were led by Anderson, Melinda Davis, Gearing, and Hannah Swailes.
The final team scores finished with Azusa Pacific scoring 167 total points compared to 80 for Westmont.
Up Next: The Cougars will be off for the next 34 days as their next competition will be an alumni meet on January 8, 2022. The next time Azusa Pacific will face another opponent will be in 41 days on January 15, 2022 as they face Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif. at 10:00 a.m.
