The University of La Verne swim and dive squad returned to action Saturday against Whittier College and the University of Redlands in a SCIAC tri-meet at the La Verne Aquatics Center.
The Leopard men would split the pair of contests, prevailing 196.50-76.50 versus the Poets of Whittier College while falling 168-125 to Redlands. Against a strong Bulldog squad, the Leopard men held their own through much of the competition to solidify its improvement from a year ago. Despite a strong effort, the Leopard women would fall to Redlands 183-115 and 199-80 versus Whittier.
An impressive effort by Coleman Goode, Marc Okimura, Felipe Avendano Villa, and Devon Photias in the 200 yard medley relay (1:39.86) would help propel the Leos over Whittier. Goode would also capture a top finish touching out Redlands' Chris Depew by less than two-tenths of a second in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 55.02.
The breaststroke event would belong to the Leopards as Amir Rasher came out on top in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.92, less than one-tenth of a second ahead of Redlands' Patrick Roth (1:04.97) and Okimura soon following Rasher with a victory of his own in the 200 yard breaststroke (2:15.27).
Cody Yeo continues to display his speed in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events, coming out ahead with times of 1:47.64 and 4:54.10, respectively.
On the diving front, La Verne diver Jacob Tittl contributed to the Leopard victory against the Poets with his victory in the 1 meter event totaling 221.58 points.
Maddie Lovrensky once again recorded fleeting times in the 100 and 200 yard backstroke events, swimming towards victory with a 58.84 in the 100 yard backstroke and a 2:08.53 in the 200. Other notable performances included the effort put forth by Leopard senior Nicole Carlton who recorded her fastest times of the season in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events (2:03.23; 5:28.41).
Head coach Pat Skehan was impressed by the effort of the Leopard squad against quality competition. "It was good to see a lot of people step up today and go toe-to-toe with some of the top competitors in the conference. It makes us a bigger player on the SCIAC scene."
Saturday's tri-meet concludes home competition for the Leopards and was also the final career home event for seniors Carlton, Andres Avila, Daniel Sillas, Shane Burgess, and Jaycee Hallford, who were honored prior to the meet.
La Verne goes on the road to take on Chapman in SCIAC competition next Saturday in an 11 am start.
