Krista Franceschini
Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished the season against Occidental on Saturday, at the La Verne Aquatics Center.
The meet opened with a special recognition of four ULV seniors, John Roche, Mark Wilson, Amanda McCadden and Tiffany Martin.
Each senior was awarded a bouquet of flowers and stood on the diving block while the announcer acknowledged their accomplishments in both academics and athletics.
The men’s swim team was victorious over Occidental by a score of 135-101, while the women’s swim team suffered a loss, 152-69.
McCadden finished fourth in the one meter and three meter board with a score of 184.05 and 183.75, respectfully.
The men’s diving team swept the one meter and three meter board competition.
Freshmen Jacob Tittl and Adam Gray, and sophomore Daniel Sillas finished in the top three spots.
The 400 yard medley relay team of freshmen Daniel Hargis and Marc Okimura, sophomore Matthew Johnson and junior Andrew Mackay set the stage for victory with a first place time of 3:48.88.
They lapped Occidental’s team, who finished second with a score of 4:16.25.
Hargis swam the first leg of the race in a backstroke setting them up with a lead.
Okimura followed with four laps of breaststroke increasing the lead by half a length.
Johnson’s butterfly leg technique put ULV almost a full length ahead of Occidental.
Mackay sealed the race with a strong finish in freestyle lapping the opponent.
For the women’s team, sophomore Tarrah Carroll finished first in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:58.79.
Juinor Erin Morten followed in second place with a time of 3:05.89.
“We have a lot of fine tuning to do before championships and with really good rest and taper, both the men’s and women’s teams should place high in the Championships,” Martin said.
Martin viewed the meet against Occidental as mental preparation for SCIAC which takes place later this month.
Martin said that both the men’s and women’s teams are worn down from their long seasons, but is pleased with her personal races against Occidental.
Martin finished second in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:21.39.
“We are a stronger team in championships than Cal Lutheran, so we have a good chance to move to fourth,” head coach John Hallman said.
La Verne is currently in fifth place behind Cal Lutheran.
The ULV men’s team finished the season with three wins and four losses and the women’s team finished the season with one win and six losses.
Occidental coach Alex Kuhn summed up the meet against ULV as preparation for the championships.
“We hope to have over 80 percent of the team qualify with most of the women’s team breaking their records,” Kuhn said.
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Diving Prelims will be held Saturday and Sunday in Claremont.
The SCIAC Championships will run from Feb. 20-22.
If the Leopards advance, they will go to the NCAA Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., March 23-26.
Krista Franceschini can be reached at krista.franceschini@laverne.edu.
