LC Swim have opportunities ahead

By John Trupin /// Staff Writer

The heavy wind and snow of Friday night delayed the first home swim meet of the year for the Lewis & Clark men’s and women’s teams. LC was scheduled for a dual meet against Whitman College on Friday, and Whitworth College and Pacific University were to face off  in Forest Grove, OR. All four dual meets scheduled this weekend were combined into a double dual on Sunday, hosted by LC. This gave the young Pioneer swimmers a chance to race against some of the top teams in the Northwest Conference.

In a unique setup, all four schools swam against one another simultaneously, yet the scores for each team only were pitted against that of the schools that were originally intended to compete. Against Whitman, the men’s team fell by a score of 140-42, while the women’s team lost 122-72. Versus Whitworth, the result was similar, with the men’s team falling 147-35 and the women’s squad being outscored 133-61.

The women’s team began this year with a large squad and a great deal of excitement. In their first home race of the season, the Pios were led by Monica “Momo” Castro (’15), who placed second in the women’s 100-yard butterfly with a 1:02.48 time. The senior leader of the young Pio women also grabbed fourth place in the 50 yard freestyle, with a time of 26.31. Aspen Johnson (’17) also had strong day, snagging second in the 100-yard breaststroke.

For LC’s men, a young team took to the pool for the first time at home as well, and for five of the 10 members of the team, it was their first time swimming in front of a home crowd in college. While it was a disappointing day for the team as a whole, there were bright individual performances for the men as well. Trevor Schapiro (’15) raced for fourth place in the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle.

For both teams, there are opportunities ahead. The conference is split heavily between a top few teams and teams that have had slow starts, meaning the Pios on both teams have the chance to move up a great deal in the standings. Both the men’s and women’s teams will look for their first victories of the season as they take to the pool Friday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. with a non-conference matchup against Mills College and College of Idaho at Zehntbauer Pavilion.