La Verne Swimmers Enjoy Strong Performances At Finis Collegiate Invite
Members of the La Verne swim team enjoyed a successful and productive weekend competing at the Finis Collegiate Invitational (Dec. 9-11) at the South Gate Aquatic Center. Several Leopards enjoyed notable performances in a field of top-level swimmers throughout the three-day meet.
Marc Okimura sparkled at the meet by first turning back a strong field to capture the 100-yard breaststroke with an NCAA national qualifying time of 57.79 during the final day of competition on Sunday. Okimura also earned a second place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke coming in six seconds faster that his previous season best with a time of 2:10.63.
Shane Hurter earned a third-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, 1:57.91, which was nearly three seconds faster than his performance a week earlier against Cal Lutheran. Hurter also came in under 5:00 in the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.25).
On the women's side, freshman Maddie Lovrensky established a personal best in the 100-yard backstroke, coming in at 1:00.00. Senior Brittany Orduno saw a seven-second improvement in her 200-yard butterfly (2:29.65) giving her a second place finish overall finish in that event.
On the first day of the meet, Shelby Broyles led off with a third place overall finish in the 1650-yard freestyle coming in at 19:38.35, an improvement of more than 25 seconds off her prevous best. Another third place finish was turned in by Shane Burgess, who posted a time of 3:10.97 in the women's 200-yard breaststroke.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Andrew McKay (51.87), Devon Photias (51.95) and Danny Feola (55.06) each shaved two seconds or more off their respective season bests.
The La Verne swim team placed four swimmers in the finals for the 500-yard freestyle: Erin Morten and Terrah Carroll on the women's side and John Jarvis and Hurter representing the men. Morten dropped 14 seconds off her season best for a 5:46 finish. Terrah Carroll also enjoyed an outstanding performance by dropping 17 seconds in completing her race in 5:55. Jarvis won the first heat of the men's 500 freestyle final, lowering his season best to 5:07.
"Overall our team enjoyed an outstanding effort this weekend," said Leopard head coach Pat Skehan. "We''ve already made significant improvements and we'll continue to grow and learn with each swim."
The Leopards return to action on January 7th as they head to Eagle Rock to compete against Occidental College in SCIAC action. The meet will begin at 11:00am.
