Courtesy: Pepperdine Athletics
MALIBU, California – Coming off of a 24-hour break after its last meet, Pepperdine’s women’s swim and dive team picked up wins against PCSC foes Loyola Marymount and San Diego in a home meet on Jan. 16, 2021.
“There’s definitely not as many jitters,” Pepperdine head coach Ellie Monobe said. “I think after having our first COVID-conscious competition out of the way, there’s more of a rhythm and flow to how things are going. I’m very stoked that we’re one of few swim teams out there that have been able to hold a triangular meet, so big shoutout to our department. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
All told, Pepperdine won both the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard free relay, plus six individual events. Senior Sammie Slater (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS) and sophomore Emily Morton (Golden, Colo./Lakewood HS) both won multiple individual events, whereas sophomore Jenna Sanchez (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley HS) won the 100-yard free in addition to anchoring both of Pepperdine’s winning relays.
Over on the diving side, junior Paulina Holmberg (Apple Valley, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) won the 3-meter dive.
“The nerves are gone for us, for sure,” Pepperdine diving head coach Kaeden Cogbill said. “We’ve got all of the bad dives out [in the first meet], and the team was able to put in some good stuff today.”
In the third dual meet of the afternoon, San Diego won 159-58 over LMU.
MEET RECAP
Holmberg got the Waves on the board first with a win in the 3-meter dive, scoring 245.57 points. She then followed up that performance with a second-place finish in the 1-meter dive with a 208.35.
“I think [Holmberg] dove better in the meet today than I’ve seen her dive in practice in the 1-meter and the 3-meter,” Cogbill said. “She’s starting to do some harder dives, and it’s a big help to the team. I think it’s going to be a good rest of the season.”
Freshman Anna Johnson (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme HS) also placed third in her 3-meter dive debut.
“I’m really happy how they both did in the 3-meter dive,” Cogbill said. “Anna didn’t have a 3-meter [dive] coming in here, so we were able to get that done the last couple of weeks. She did it, and she did it well.”
Once the swim portion of the meet started, Pepperdine took the lead and didn’t look back. The 200-yard medley relay team of Jasmine Williams (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS), Morton, Haley Bergthold (Fairfax, Va./Woodson HS) and Sanchez beat the next-fastest team by nearly two seconds.
In the next event, Sophia Anderson (Concord, Calif./Carondelet HS) finished third in the 1000-yard freestyle. Anderson would later take second in the 500 free to complete the distance double.
Slater, the senior captain, won her first of two individual events in the third swimming event of the day, the 200 freestyle. Pepperdine finished 1-2 in the event, all thanks to freshman Ellie Hendren (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS) holding off the rest of the field.
The first sprinting event of the day provided more excitement for the Waves, as junior newcomer Audrey Camarillo (Folsom, Calif./St. Francis HS) and Williams finished seven-hundredths of a second apart to place second and third in the 50 free, respectively.
Morton then picked up the first of her two individual wins of the afternoon in the 200 IM, in which she finished four seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Next, freshman Tay Thomas (Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park HS) and Bergthold finished second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard butterfly.
Following that event, Sanchez won the 100-yard freestyle, followed closely by her teammate Camarillo, who placed third.
Williams placed second in the 100 back, then Slater and Anderson finished 1-2 in the 500 free. Slater, who swam most of the race uncontested, finished with a time three seconds off of her personal best.
“Sammie is already an extremely hard worker in the pool and everywhere else,” Monobe said. “I think that shows a lot of character and the type of athlete that she is. She’s very competitive, hard on herself and I think she’s going to surprise herself this season.”
Morton followed up Slater’s win with one of her own by winning her second race of the day in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Pepperdine closed out the meet with a sizable win in the 400 free relay, as the Waves’ team of Slater, Hendren, Paige Brackett (Folsom, Calif./Granite Bay HS) and Sanchez finished nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place team.
Now that the Waves have finished two of its six scheduled meets before the PCSC Championships, Monobe said the team will now focus on the details and higher-intensity training before the next meet.
“We’re going to amp up the training a little bit more,” Monobe said. “Now that we’ve had a couple of competitions out of the way, building our team camaraderie will be a nice part of this break too.”
NEXT UP: After two meets in a 24-hour span, the Waves have a bit of an intermission, as they travel to San Diego State for a dual meet against the Aztecs on Friday, Jan. 29. The diving portion of the meet is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. PT, with swimming events to follow. Broadcast information for the meet is not available at this time.
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