Pepperdine University
PCSC Championships
Waves Win Three PCSC Titles, Break 14-Year-Old Record on Day One
4/14/2021 12:28:00 PM | Women's Swim/Dive
Irvine, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's swimming and diving team won the 200-yard freestyle relay and set a new school record en route to winning the 400-yard medley relay, plus sophomore Emily Morton won the 200 IM in an action-packed first day of the 2021 PCSC Championships on Wednesday.
"We're definitely excited," Pepperdine head coach Ellie Monobe said of the first day's performances. "We went into today not knowing what to expect — we knew we were going to be favored in some events — but we didn't think we were going to take away both wins in the relays and see the sprinters step up like they did. All in all, we're excited, but we're still focused on the prize. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we're ready for it."
As it stands, the Waves trail first-place Biola 485-477.
The Waves kicked off the meet with a bang, as its quartet of Sammie Slater (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS), Mckenzie Kelly (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla Country Day School), Jasmine Williams (Folsom, Calif./Folsom HS) and Jenna Sanchez (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley HS) edged out Biola's team for a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Trailing after three legs, the sophomore Sanchez tracked down Biola's anchor leg and touched the wall first to give the Waves a 1:35.19 finishing time. All four legs on Pepperdine's relay team swam under 25 seconds, and both Williams (23.70) and Sanchez (23.08) broke 24.
"That group definitely has a lot of heart," Monobe said. "Going into the meet, we weren't favored to win that event, but that event set the tone for how the rest of the session went."Â
Later, Morton (Golden, Colo./Lakewood HS) became the Waves' first individual PCSC Champion with her 2:05.94 win in the 200 IM. Using the fastest backstroke and freestyle splits in the field, touched the wall nearly a second ahead of the next finisher. Morton's performance not only gave her an undefeated season in the 200 IM this year, but also Pepperdine's second-fastest time in program history. She was 71-hundredths of a second off Jessica Mosbaugh's school record set in 2015.
"I could see that this win was coming," Monobe said. "Emily dedicates so much, is so focused and engaged during her training, that I knew the pieces were about to fall into place. I am very extremely happy for her and I think it's well-deserved. She's been waiting all year to go off, and now it's starting to come together."
Like it was at the start of the day, Pepperdine was the team to beat in the 400-yard medley relay. But this time, the Waves didn't need a late comeback.
Williams gave Pepperdine an early lead with her 57.13 split in the 100 backstroke before Morton gave the Waves a two-second lead at the midway point.
"Jasmine's underwaters really set her apart from the field," Monobe said. "And Emily Morton splitting a 1:03.98 in the breaststroke was phenomenal. She's been working extremely hard at breaststroke this year; she knew this is what the team needed, and she threw herself into it."
Williams gave Pepperdine an early lead with her 57.13 split in the 100 backstroke before Morton gave the Waves a two-second lead at the midway point. Then Haley Bergthold (Fairfax, Va./Woodson HS) maintained Pepperdine's lead with her 58.05 split in the butterfly, putting the Waves just under three minutes with 100 yards remaining.
"Haley had so much speed in that 100 fly," Monobe said. "And of course, Sammie brought it home in that 100 free — you've seen it throughout this year and her career that she's been a very reliable swimmer. We're able to put her in these situations because she thrives under the pressure."
At 2:59.16, Slater needed to swim faster than a 52-second split in order to break the school record.
By the time Slater dove off the blocks, she was only racing against the clock; the Waves had a two-second lead over the rest of the field. Yet Slater delivered, swimming a 51.51 freestyle leg, matching the third-fastest open 100-yard time in Pepperdine program history. As a team, the Pepperdine quartet finished nearly two seconds ahead of second-place Biola.
As a team, the Pepperdine quartet finished nearly two seconds ahead of second-place Biola. Additionally, PCSCs marked the first time Williams, Morton, Bergthold and Slater swam on a 400-yard relay together.
"One of the most exciting parts of this program is that we have so many relay options," Monobe said. "This is the only chance this relay has been together, which was exciting."
Pepperdine's previous 400 medley relay record of 3:51.92 was set in 2007 by Alison McLeod, Danielle Kimmel, Amy Nightingale and Haley Wilson. The Waves'Â best time last season was a 3:52.99.
Elsewhere, the Waves picked up key points in the 50-yard freestyle, as four of the top five finishers and five of the top 10 were from Pepperdine.
"We've really started to pick up some momentum with our sprinters," Monobe said. "Naturally, they take the longest to develop their speed, so today they finally saw it start to come together. I do think it was phenomenal to get some of our girls up there — for example, Ellie Hendren jumped 15 spots. And with Jasmine Williams and Audrey Camarillo bumping up, those are the swims that are really going to make or break our meet."
"I definitely think we have a very strong freestyle group, especially for Friday in the 100 free — and that might be a better race for us."
Over in diving, Paulina Holmberg (Apple Valley, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) placed sixth to lead a quartet of Waves in the 3-meter dive, all of whom helped boost Pepperdine's team score.
Yet the team's race is only one-third of the way finished. Pepperdine continues the quest for its first PCSC Championship tomorrow at the Woollett Aquatics Center at 9 a.m. The three-day championship meet will conclude this Friday.
"I'm extremely proud of how they've handled the season this year," Monobe said. "I keep reminding the girls that this is a celebration for all of the work we put in, so enjoy it. This is a party. This is the celebration for years of hard work."
THE RUNDOWN
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Three of the top five finishers in the 500-yard freestyle were from Pepperdine: Sophomore Paige Tattersall (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) finished in third with a 5:04.24, followed by Slater in fourth with a 5:06.56 and Paige Brackett (Folsom, Calif./Granite Bay HS) in fifth with a 5:09.66. Junior Sophia Anderson (Concord, Calif./Carondelet HS) rounded out the top 10 in ninth with a 5:14.03. All four Waves swam season-best times in the event.
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Pepperdine had four of the top five finishes in the 50-yard freestyle. Sanchez finished in second with a 23.95, followed by Kelly with a 24.15, Williams with a 24.34 and Audrey Camarillo (Folsom, Calif./St. Francis HS) with a 24.41. Freshman Ellie Hendren (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS), Pepperdine's fifth finisher in the top 10, won her heat with a 24.82 — a season PR.
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In the 3-meter dive Holmberg led the Waves with a sixth-place finish with a 179.20, followed by freshman Bri Cannon (Katy, Texas./Katy HS) in seventh with a 178.10. Olivia Stotz (Western Spring, Ill./Lyons Township HS) and Anna Johnson (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme HS) rounded out Pepperdine's finishers in ninth and tenth, respectively.
NEXT UP: Day two of the PCSC Championships kicks off with the 200-yard medley relay tomorrow at 9 a.m. Per PCSC rules, spectators will not be permitted at the Woollett Aquatics Center, but the meet will be livestreamed on YouTube.
LIVE RESULTS: All results, team standings, schedules and updates can be found at the PCSC's championship page.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesSwimDive on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
Players Mentioned
