Oct. 21, 2006

The Southwestern women swam away with two wins Saturday (Oct. 21) afternoon, beating McMurry University 117-112 and John Brown University 128.50-64.50 in Abilene, TX while the outnumbered men fell to McMurry 158-21.

Following a second-place showing in the 200 Medley Relay to open the meet, the Pirate women responded by sweeping the top three places in the next two events. In the 1000 yd freestyle, Alana Bergfield (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia/The Cranbrook School) won the event in 11:46.94, followed by Kathryn Ferguson (Wichita Falls, TX/Wichita Falls HS) and Anya Lopez-Fuentes (Pflugerville, TX/Hendrickson HS). In the 200 freestyle, Lorena Saenz (San Antonio, TX/Alamo Heights HS) got the win in 2:09.09, followed by Allie Stevenson (Round Rock, TX/McNeil HS) and Julianne Stafford (San Antonio, TX/Reagan HS).

On the afternoon, the Pirate women won all but two swimming events events. In addition to the 1000, Bergfield also won the 200 yd IM (2:22.25) and the 100 yd breaststroke (1:12.56). Saenz also had a pair of wins on the afternoon, placing first in the 500 yd freestyle with a time of 5:53.91. Other wins included Stevenson in the 100 yd fly (1:05.50) and Jessie Carrier (Victoria, TX/St. Joseph HS) in the 100 yd freestyle (57.73).

The meet was decided with the last event, with the Pirates relay of Carrier, Stevenson, Saenz, and Stafford winning with a time of 1:46.82. SU head coach Steve Brandt stated, "We knew that we were going to have to swim well in order to win. Being down 32 points due to diving was a big challenge, but the women swam well and really came together as a team to win the meet."

Other notable performances for the women included career-best times by Katie Stancil (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic HS) in the 100 yd free, Stephanie Morton (Longview, TX/Pinetree HS) in the 50 yd free and Staci Rives (Houston, TX/Dobie HS) in the 100 yd. backstoke.

For the men, Jon LaRochelle (Angleton, TX/Milton Academy) led the way for the Pirates. LaRochelle placed 2nd in both the 100 yd. freestyle and the 100 yd. breaststroke, swimming the later in a lifetime best time (1:08.15).

For the season the women go to 2-1, while the men fall to 0-1. The next meet for the Pirates will be the Maroon Invitational hosted by the University of Chicago on November 10-11 in Chicago, IL.