Dec. 8, 2010

MALIBU, Calif. - The swimmer's of Pepperdine return to the pool this weekend for the Finis Collegiate Invitational, held in the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif.

The four-day Finis Collegiate Invitational runs from Friday through Monday and features 14 teams, many of whom Pepperdine will face again at the conference championship meet in February. Some squads in attendance include Cal Baptist, Cal Lutheran, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly SLO, Vanguard, and the University of Redlands.

Due to next week's end-of-term exams, however, the Waves will only compete on Friday and Saturday.

This trip to the Belmont Plaza will be the first of two occasions the Waves compete in the Long Beach-based venue. They return in February for the Pacific Coast Swim & Dive Conference (PCSC) Championships.

Last time out, in early November, Pepperdine tallied 14 season-best times at the Cal Poly Shootout. The divers performed strong as well, claiming four top-five finishes in both the one and three meter events.

Despite the long absence from the pool, and upcoming exam week, head coach Nick Rodionoff is confident his student-athletes are focused and ready.

"The swim season traditionally has extended breaks from competition," commented Rodionoff. "After this weekend, we break for the holidays until the middle of January. Because of that we have to make sure we pace ourselves, both physically and emotionally.

"While we always strive to put up the fastest times possible, we also don't want to peak too soon. This weekend, I'm looking for our swimmers to clock solid times - not necessarily personal best times - but times that will build confidence and end the 2010 portion of the season on a good note."

While the swimmers get a chance to compete against area talent this weekend, the divers patiently wait for the Cal Lutheran Invitational on Jan. 15, 2011 to return to action.

"With the cancelation of a few events this past month, the divers have had an opportunity to learn new and more advanced skills. Some may see the long absence from competition as a disadvantage, but all four of our divers (Tiffany Martz (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS), Klaire Korver (Redwood City, Calif./Pinewood School), Kristin Scribner (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake HS) and Leslie Wade (Atlanta, Ga./Lovett School)) have really taken advantage of the extra practice time.

First to enter the pool are Sarah Burris (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox HS) and Stephanie Ertl (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) in the 200 breaststroke. Following that is Shannon Adkins (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) as the four seed in the 100 freestyle.

Kayleen Hicks (Chico, Calif./Chico HS) enters the 200 breaststroke as the favorite, with a seed time of 2:23.21 - a time she clocked in her winning race at the Malibu Invitational. Last season, Hicks set the Pepperdine record In the event with a time of 2:21.31.

Other swimmers scheduled to race include Madison Krall (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo Centennial HS), Andrea Kacynski (Superior, Colo./Monarch HS), Gina Vrablik (Inverness, Ill./Loyola Academy), Brooke Fugate (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS), Kelsey Maguire (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham HS), and Robin-Lindsay White (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles School)

Full results and recaps will be available at www.PepperdineSports.com following each day's competition.