CLAREMONT, Calif. — The University of La Verne swimming and diving teams turned in excellent swims in the back half of the final dual meet of the season against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday at Axelrod Pool.
Highlights: The best win of the meet came on the 200 yard backstroke, where junior captain Harry Bennett swam a season-best 2:10.03 to beat out Tyler Welty by .13 seconds.
Freshman Brandon Pon notched the first win of the meet for the Leopards in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.66 and senior Karla Fuertez promptly followed it up with a win of her win in the women's 500 freestyle at 5:24.37. The Leopards went 1-2-3 in the women's 500 freestyle as Rachel Fox came in second (5:28.96) and Ashley MacAskill finished third (5:44.20).
Scott MacKay kicked off the meet with a solid win on the 3-meter diving board with a score of 318.55, but the Stags and the Athenas went on to finish 1-2 in the first 12 swimming events.
Kristyn Cha broke through with the first second-place finish for the Leopards with a time of 2:17.78 in the 200 butterfly and Daniel Carpenter, in one of the most anticipated events of the meet, finished just behind CMS All-American Alex Poltash in the 100 freestyle at 47.73.
Miranda Chavez continued her roll with a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke at 2:36.
From head coach Pat Skehan: "Going head-to-head against the 13-time defending champions was a great learning experience for us. It was good to see both the men and the women rally back and challenge a team that is ranked in the top 10. It is a good way the finish the dual meet and sets us up well for the SCIAC Championships."
Up next: The Leopards will compete in the 2016 SCIAC Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by Chapman, on Feb. 17-20 at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center.