Several members of the University of La Verne Swimming & Diving team contributed to a convincing victory for both the men and the women against visiting Caltech in SCIAC dual competition Saturday at the La Verne Aquatics Center.
The Leopard men would prevail over the Beavers in a 161-79 final score, while the women would also come out on top by a 136-84 margin. The Leopard women would go on to capture 10 of 13 events on the day.
On the women's front, A trio of Leos captured their first collegiate victories. Brandelyn Storms secured top finishes in the 400 yard medley relay - along with teammates Maddie Lovrensky, Sammy Shiomoto and Nicole Carlton to a winning time of 4:25.50 - and 100 yard backstroke (1:10.71), 8 seconds ahead of her competitors.
Freshman Crystal Antuna went the distance in the 100 yard freestyle recording a swift 11:55.61, a time that was more than 90 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Antuna would later capture first place in the 400 yard freestyle relay along with teammates Carlton, Samary Morales and Alexis Smith (4:16.56). Smith also found her first bit of individual success in the 50 yard freestyle (29.01).
The Leopard men also witnessed the emergence of two contributing newcomers in Homero Aguilar and Felipe Avendano Villa, Aguilar outtouched his opponents in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.81 and in the 400 yard medley relay with teammates Coleman Goode, Amir Rashed and Devon Photias to record a winning time of 3:48.74. Villa also had a successful day of his own in the 100 backstroke (1:00.60) touching out his oppopnent by fourteen tenths of a second.
Leopard standouts Lovrensky and Marc Okimura branched out from their primary events to earn first-place finishes in their respective 200 individual medley events. Lovrensky won her race in 2:18.20 with Okimura clocking in with a time of 2:00.95 to earn victory.
"Today allowed our freshman to step up and make their mark", said Leopard head coach Pat Skehan. "They make us a better team as we move toward the SCIAC Championships."
The Leopards return to the pool next Saturday (January 26) in a tri-meet vs Redlands and Whittier at 11:00 am at the La Verne Aquatics Center. The contest is La Verne's final home meet of the 2012-13 regular season.
