Kingsmen Sink Poets

CLU swims, dives to SCIAC victory

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Zach Kaija placed second in two breaststroke events during a win over Whittier.

Photo: Tracy Maple

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran men’s swimming and diving team improved to 2-3 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action this morning, defeating Whittier 161.5-132.5 on the road.

The Kingsmen jumped out to an early lead with a 400 Medley Relay victory before concluding the meet with another relay win in the 400 Medley Relay.

The quartet of Aaron Waters, Conrad Sheffer, Kyle Eckhart and Chase Miller opened the day with a 3:44.59 Medley Relay performance. Eckhart was the only repeat champion, joining forces with Anthony Nguyen, David Sparks and Tyler Berg to take the final event, the 400 Free Relay, in 3:20.69, edging Whittier by 11 hundredths of a second.

Cal Lutheran swept the 100 breaststroke going 1-2-3 as Sheffer hit the wall in 1:01.57 followed by Zach Kaija (1:04.59) and Nguyen (1:05.96). The trio repeated in the 200 breast with Sheffer, Kaija and Nguyen swimming 2:21.19, 2:25.84 and 2:30.93, respectively. Sheffer went on to win the 200 Individual Medley (IM) in 2:04.02 as well.

Eckhart added an individual victory in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 54.69.

Waters won the 100 backstroke in 57.23, out touching Cameron Rehm (57.77) from WC. The duo reversed finishes in the 200 back with Waters touching the wall second in 2:10.12. The CLU sophomore also placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:09.83.

Miller was second in the 200 free with a swim of 1:53.31. Berg sprinted to second in the 50 free with a 22.33 followed by Eckhart (22.65) and Miller (22.71). Sparks placed second in the 100 free in a time of 50.16 while Berg tied the Poets Kevin Marquez for third, each clocking in at 50.46.

Derrick Graham was less than two seconds off the winning time in the 500 free, finishing in 5:02.93.

Ryan Brem won the three-meter diving event by more than 30 points by scoring a 206.15. He then went on to place second in the one-meter with a 202.90, falling to Garrett Hall (212.40). Kevin Schultz was third with a 152.50.

Cal Lutheran (1-5 SCIAC) will be back at the Samuelson Aquatics Center on Saturday, Jan. 26 when the Kingsmen host Occidental at 10:30 a.m.   

Results: CLU 161.5, WC 132.5
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