Waves Have a Strong Day at Rodionoff Invite

Friday, October 13

Malibu, Calif.

10:00 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Rodionoff Invite

Photo by: Jerry Harris

10/13/2023 4:11:00 PM | Women's Swim/Dive

Team Scores Results

By: By Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. – The third annual Rodionoff Invite got underway on Friday for the Pepperdine women's swim and dive team. Aided by eight first-place finishes, the Waves hold a solid lead over PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, 280.5-97.5.

MEET RECAP

Scoring for this meet is being done by division and Pepperdine and LMU were the only two Division I teams competing today. Concordia, Cal Lutheran, Westmont and Azusa Pacific competed against each other in separate divisions.

Pepperdine dominated the women's 3-meter diving in the first event of the day. The Waves' six divers took the top six spots on the leaderboard. Amanda Wong (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill HS) led the way and came in first with a score of 263.45. Ava Langheim (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) narrowly came in second after a 261.55 showing. Rounding out the top three was Lexie Martin (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) thanks to a 245.25 performance.

In swimming, Pepperdine found success against their PCH Cup rival. The squad of Alexandra Browne (Arlington, Va./Washington-Liberty HS), Kylie Taylor (Eugene, Ore. Churchill HS), Maddie McLeay (Omaha, Neb./Millard North HS) and Anna Ryan (Alamo, Calif./Monte Vista HS) opened the swim portion with a 1:37.26 showing in the 200 free relay, taking first.

The Waves' foursome of Kylie Taylor, Sydney Abild (Holyoke, Mass./Northampton HS), Layla Busquets (Diablo, Calif./Monte Vista HS) and Alexandra Browne took first place in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:53.80.

Success was found individually as well. Head-to-head winners against the Lions included freshman Ansley Halbach (Watkinsville, Ga./North Oconee HS), who raced the 200 IM in 2:12.58, sophomore Lexi Haymart (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Ponderosa HS), who swam the 1000 free with a time of 10:44.96, sophomore AJ Adams (Castle Rock, Colo./Valor Christian HS) who completed the 200 back in 2:05.70, freshman Sydney Abild (Holyoke, Mass./Northampton HS), in the 100 breast, recording a time of 1:06.86, Alexandra Browne, going 53.62 in the 100 free and Eleanor Mashkovich (Calabasas, Calif./Westlake HS) who completed the 200 fly at a 2:11.32 clip.

In addition, six individuals and two relay teams came in second.

San Diego will join the Division I competition on Saturday.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Ellie Monobe said: "I'm very pleased with today's races and how the Waves stepped up in our first invite format of the year. Our 200 IM was very solid and it was good to see the depth in that event. Taking the top three spots in the 1000 free was great to see. The 200 backstroke has always been a strong event for us and it was great to see the depth in that event as well. Seeing the freshman step up in a new environment in a relay format and take on back-to-back fast races is very exciting and we're looking forward to what the future holds. I'm looking forward to seeing some more fast races tomorrow."

Diving coach Monique Demaisip said: "On the diving side of things, I'm very pleased with our first 3-meter event of the season, we took the top six spots. I think we're in a really great spot this early in the season. I'm excited to see how the 1-meter goes tomorrow."

NEXT UP: Pepperdine finishes its week with the second day of the Rodionoff Invite on Saturday. Diving begins at 10 a.m. with swim to follow at 11:30 a.m. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).

FOLLOW: Follow @WavesSwimDive on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.