MALIBU, Calif. - Sophomore Kayleen Hicks won the 200-yard breaststroke title with a season best time of 2:23.99 this past weekend at the UC Irvine/Ayers Sprint Invitational, leading Pepperdine to a fifth-place total of 184 points.
Washington State won the team title over seven additional schools and was followed by UCLA, Wyoming and the host Anteaters.
Hicks’ (Chico, Calif./Chico HS) performance was one of 15 season best times set by the Waves in their first weekend of competition since late November. Pepperdine also compiled six personal records, including two from freshman Martha Murphy (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain HS) in the 200 butterfly (2:26.35) and 400 individual medley (5:17.63). Hicks, junior Dani Kimmel (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake HS), senior Lauren Meagher (Eagen, Minn./Eagan HS) and sophomore Tanya Thomforde (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) also posted lifetime bests in the 400 IM, with marks ranging from 4:56 to 5:09.
Outside of Hicks’ triumph and her fourth-place finish in the 50 breast (30.74), the Waves collected five additional top-10 showings from the likes of freshman Rachel Cote (Honolulu, Hawai’i/Punahou School) in the 50 (4th, 28.46) and 100 backstroke (4th, 59.62); freshman Madison Krall (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo Centennial HS) in the 200 butterfly (7th, 2:12.76); and Kimmel in the 50 (3rd, 30.74) and 200 breast (6th, 2:30.10).
During the four-event distance invitational, which took place Sunday at UCI and was won by Wyoming, Krall placed 10th in the 1000 freestyle with a mark of 10:43.07. Pepperdine competed in just two of the invite’s events and placed sixth of eight teams as a result.
Off the springboards, senior Amanda Pond (Wayland, Mass./Wayland HS) was Pepperdine’s top finisher on 3-meter with a sixth place and season-high score of 220.85 points. Sophomore Tiffany Martz (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS) was the Waves’ top scorer on 1-meter with a season high and fourth-place tally of 223.10.
Pepperdine returns home to the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday, Jan. 17 for a dual meet vs. local rival Cal State Northridge. Two weeks later on Jan. 31, the Waves will play host to the PCSC Time Trials.
- Copy by Chris Macaluso (Pepperdine sports information)
