ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Pepperdine women's swimming and diving team sent three individuals and two relays to the finals on day one of the Trailblazer Invite hosted by Dixie State University.
MEET RECAP
The prelims saw three Waves advance to the evening's finals:
Emma Purdy (Truckee, Calif./Truckee HS),
Emily Morton (Golden, Colo./Lakewood HS) and
Jenna Sanchez (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley HS). Purdy's time of 24.07 not only qualified her for the finals in the 50-yard free, but it landed her tied for ninth on the Pepperdine all-time list. Sanchez also qualified in the 50 free, while Morton continued her strong swimming in the 200-yard IM to qualify there.
The finals portion kicked off with the 200 free relay, where the Waves combination of
Alexandra Browne (Arlington, Va./Washington-Liberty HS),
Jasmine Williams (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS), Sanchez and Purdy took 12
th with a time of 1:36.45. The other relay of the night, the 400 medley relay, saw
Kara Coughlin (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen HS), Lexie Deitemeyer (Golden, Colo./Golden HS), Browne and Sanchez place 18
th with a time of 3:53.43.
Pepperdine saw momentum from the 50-yard free in the morning carry over to the finals, as Sanchez came in fifth in the D final with a time of 24.14. Purdy finished eighth in the C final with a time of 24.16.
In the 200-yard IM, Morton placed sixth in the D final with a time of 2:09.05.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach
Ellie Monobe said: "We had a great first day. Considering it's been nearly two years since some of us had competed in an environment like this, it was good to see us step up. Jenna, Emily and Emma represented us well tonight individually and followed up 20 minutes later with some standout relay swims. Most impressive was Jenna's 50 free relay split, matching her time from championships last year. We're looking forward to how the rest of the meet unfolds for her."
NEXT UP: Pepperdine will spend the next two days competing at the Trailblazer Invite. Prelims begin at 9:00 a.m. PT both days, while the finals on each day start at 4:00 p.m. PT.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesSwimDive on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
