MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine swimming and diving team kicked off the inaugural Rodionoff Invitational on Friday with a strong showing on a beautiful day at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
 
MEET RECAP
 
In the morning diving portion, freshman Lexie Martin (Keller Texas/Keller HS) continued her strong weekend by leading all divers with a total score of 234.14, 15 points clear of the next closest competitor.
 
The meet got started on a high note for the Waves as Emily Morton (Golden, Colo./Lakewood HS) won the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:10.94. In the next event, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ellie Mashkovich (Calabasas, Calif./Westlake HS), Ellie Hendren (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS), Lexie Deitemeyer (Golden, Colo./Golden HS) and Paige Tattersall (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS), which took second place with a time of 1:39.88.
 
The 200-yard backstroke saw Waves finish in the first four positions. Morton took the event with a time of 2:07.79, while Lindsay Hemming (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte HS), Kara Coughlin (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen HS) and Tay Thomas (Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park HS) also had strong showings. Olivia Kayye (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill HS) earned her first victory of the season with a close win in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:07.74.
 
Other top performers for Pepperdine included Jenna Sanchez (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley HS) taking second in the 100-yard freestyle and Mashkovich taking first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.25. In the finale of the night – the 400-yard medley relay -- the relay team of Morton, Kayye, Deitemeyer and Sanchez took home the top spot with a final time of 4:01.40.

QUOTABLE: "Lexie (Martin) did a phenomenal job diving. She has really blossomed here and I'm excited to see how she handles the rest of the week. We haven't had a ton of experience with 3 meter but I think our new diving coach (Monique Demaisip) has been very happy with their progression so far. I'm looking to tomorrow with the 1 meter as we're more experienced there. 

"Veteran Emily Morton has always been a very consistent swimmer for our program. She was very business-like and took care of business in her events. Some of our other freshmen started to step up as well, Eleanor Mashkovich winning the 200 butterfly - that was a brand new event for her so that was exciting to see. Lexie (Deitemeyer) is also someone who is going to be a staple in our relays so that was exciting to see. Olivia Kayye ran away with the 1000-yard freestyle and won the backstroke as well. Our relay teams had a strong showing and I think they set the tone for our conference season, being able to put together two solid relays shows the depth that we're trying to build and that's how you win championships.

"We definitely have a lot to clean up so I'm excited about that. This is our home pool and there are some mistakes that shouldn't be happening but all in all a strong showing."

--Ellie Monobe, Head Coach
 
WOMEN TEAM SCORES (D1): Pepperdine 240, LMU 137
 
MEN TEAM SCORES (D2, D3): Biola 181, Cal Lutheran 171
 
WOMEN TEAM SCORES (D2, D3): Biola 199, Cal Lutheran 112
 
MEN TEAM SCORES (NAIA): The Master's 111
 
WOMEN TEAM SCORES (NAIA): The Master's 129
 

NEXT UP: Pepperdine will compete in the final day of the Rodionoff Invitational on Saturday. Diving starts at 10:00 a.m., while swimming will follow shortly after.
 
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesSwimDive on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.