Sagehen Swimming Beats Chapman in Opener
By Drew Perraut
Sports Writer

The women of the Pomona-Pitzer swimming and diving team have started this season off with a bang, placing well in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational and shutting down Chapman in this week’s meet. These two early victories may be a predictor of things to come for the Hens this season, as the team strives to place well in conference. Last year, the team was defeated in SCIAC only by Redlands, a situation the Hens would very much like to reverse for the 2002-2003 season.

The cold and rain kept most spectators away from Haldeman Pool on Saturday morning, but the swimming and diving competition continued nonetheless. Despite the inclement weather, the Sagehen women had an excellent showing and dominated Chapman, with a final score of 163-62. The overwhelming victory was made possible by a series of strong performances across the board.

Chapman did not bring a diving team, so Annie Lindberg ’03 recorded wins for P-P in both diving events, although she says that “the rain made the boards a little slippery.” Swimming also saw a number of wins over Chapman on Saturday. Among them were Valerie Stout ’05 in the 200 individual medley, Kathleen Foley ’06 in the 50 free, Lucy Keller ’05 in the 1650 free, Joanne Sheng ’06 in the 100 butterfly and Sara Ball ’04 in the 100 backstroke. These impressive results were further bolstered by freshman Elana McDermott’s ‘06 victories in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle. The Hens also won the 400 medley relay.

A win against Chapman comes as no surprise. The Hens placed well above them in last week’s invitational match, but Head Coach Penny Dean cautions that Saturday’s point spread was probably larger than it should have been. Dean believes that Chapman focused too exclusively on the relays, allowing the Hens to take decisive leads in all the other events. All things considered, she says that she was surprised that Chapman did not offer a “tougher lineup.”

The win against Chapman follows on the heels of a good performance by the Lady Hens at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, which was held on November 2nd. Though they were defeated by Cal Baptist and Redlands, the Sagehens fared well at the meet overall, placing third out of nine teams. P-P had a number of individual wins at the invitational, including wins from Ball in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Lucia Schmit ‘03 in the 400 individual medley and Stout in the 200 butterfly. McDermott demonstrated her considerable prowess by finishing the 1650-free individual with a time of 17:50.27, a score that qualifies her for the national meet. P-P also worked together for victories in the 200-medley team race and the 800-free relay team race.

Independent of their early wins, the Hens look like they have a strong team this season. There are a large number of returning players. Diving has three returning members, Lindberg, Tyler Elcano’03, and Elana Scire ’04, as well as four new members, making it the largest team in SCIAC. Lindberg is excited to continue the season, saying that the team is composed of “dedicated returners and talented freshman. I know we’re all determined to beat Redlands and CMS to win SCIAC. And we will.” Dean agrees, saying that she is confident that Pomona-Pitzer will have a “strong team” this year.

The Hens’ next meet will take place this Friday and Saturday when they compete in the CMS Invitational. The match should be an interesting benchmark of P-P’s Conference chances this year, as they narrowly defeated CMS in last year’s SCIAC playoffs.