Jan. 10, 2009
Results
Stanford, Calif. - In its first dual meet action of 2009, the Pacific men's swim team fell 124-69 to Stanford's powerhouse roster, while the women squared off against a squad laden with 2008 Beijing medalists, and put forth a competitive effort yet dropped a narrow 109-82 decision on Jan. 10.
The loss placed the Tiger men at 1-4 on the year, as the Cardinal climbed to 3-0 in its swimming and diving 2008-09 schedule, as the women dropped to a 3-4 overall record, while Stanford remains undefeated at 15-0 on the year.
Highlights for the men's squad include several season-high finishes against the Pacific-10 opponents. Senior Maxwell Maris (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) jumped out to an early third-place finish in the second event of the day, finishing with a team and season-best 9:43.58 time in the 1000 Free. Sophomore Kyle Accornero (Livermore, Calif.) followed suit in the 50 Free and put forth a season-best result with a time of 22.51. Similarly, freshman Kevin Byers (Puyallup, Wash.) turned in his best pace in the 100 Back, finishing 55.43 in sixth place.
Senior Matt Lundy (Lafayette, Colo.) recorded a first-place finish in the 500 Free, topping all Pacific swimmers with a time of 4:40.87, just seconds off his fastest race this season. In relay action, seniors Justin Canty (El Cajon, Calif.), BJ Damazo (Paradise, Calif.), Michael Kasten (Livermore, Calif.) and junior Dave Mathews (Dublin, Ireland) took the 200 Free Relay in 1:30.10.
2009 also marks the beginning of freshman Joe Orr's (Fresno, Calif.) undivided attention with Pacific, as the Tiger men's water polo season has wrapped up for the academic year. Orr competed in his second competition with Pacific, racing in the 200 Free and 100 Fly.
The biggest headline of the day came during the ninth event, in the women's 100-yard Back. As expected, Stanford's top finish came from Elaine Breeden who took silver in the 400-meter Medley Relay in Beijing last summer. Breeden recorded a 56.79 in the heat, but was narrowly out-touched by Pacific's own senior Jun Huang (Guangzhou, China) who claimed the event with a 56.62 speed. Huang's time was only .09 seconds shy of tying her season-best mark of 56.53.
Tiger swimmers claimed three more races, in the 500 Free, 100 Breast and 200 Free Relay. Freshman Jayme Swalin (Kenmore, Wash.) has excelled in distance freestyle races all season long in the pool for Pacific and she did not disappoint again, taking the event in 5:10.07, seconds ahead of junior KC Albiston's (Salt Lake City, Utah) 5:13.09 time in second place.
Senior April Woo (Honolulu, Hawaii) topped the 100 Breast with her new season-best 1:06.64 time in the event. Closing out the day, Pacific put freshman Elena Walterman (Framingham, Mass.), sophomore Nikki Yamamoto (Honolulu, Hawaii), junior Brooke Cashion (Irvine, Calif.) and senior Meghan Connor (Hinsdale, Ill.) on the block for the 200 Free Relay, and the group led the way with a 1:42.83 finish on the afternoon.
Pacific next returns home after competing in the past four meets on the road, to open up Big West Conference competition against UC Davis on Jan. 24 at 12 p.m.
