SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran men's and women's swimming and diving teams were on the road this weekend as the Kingsmen and Regals competed in the 2017 Banana Slug Invitational which was held Friday and Saturday at UC Santa Cruz's Aquatics Center. The Kingsmen claimed 18 event titles and the Regals swam to 14 titles.
Top performers for Cal Lutheran were Mardell Ramirez (10 titles), Jacob Frigard (seven), Zach Zamecki (seven), Alexia Rojas (six) and many more.
Ramirez placed first in every event she competed in except for one. She won five individual events and was part of five relay events. She swam to a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (25.65 seconds), 200-yard free (1:58.13), 100-yard butterfly (1:01.48), 500-yard free (57.94) and the 100-yard free (54.18).
She combined with Emily Glass, Alexia Rojas and Emily Sharpe for the 400-yard medley relay (4:13.94), Rojas, Paulina Cordero and Brianna Baldwin for the 200-yard free (1:46.41), Glass, Bladwin and Rojas for the 200-yard medley (1:55.97), Sharpe, Rojas and Melody Pope for the 800-yard free (8:16.56) and Sharpe, Baldwin and Rojas for the 400-yard free (3:51.89).
Frigard and Zamecki led the men's squad with seven event titles each. Individually, Frigard and Zamecki claimed three and two events, respectively. Frigard won the 50-yard free (21.86), 100-yard breaststroke (58.40) and the 100-yard free (47.67). Zamecki swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard free (1:46.21) and the 50-yard free (21.77).
The duo of Frigard and Zamecki then combined with Marcus Rodarte and Andreas Nybo to win the 400-yard medley relay (3:35.01) and the 200-yard medley relay (1:39.28). Frigard and Zamecki continued their winning ways with Liam McCallum and Thelen Mckinna-Worrell in the 200-yard free (1:27.14) and the 400-yard free (3:14.83). Zamecki then teamed with Nybo, Stephen Blaauw and Jonah Hobbs to win the 800-yard free (7:12.98).
On top of the five relay titles, Rojas added an individual win as she took home the 50-yard free with a time of 25.91. Three more Regals swam to individual titles. Glass won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:37.07), Melody Pope claimed the 1,650-yard free (19:12.92) and Gabriella Schultz won the 100-yard free (57.94).
Nybo added three individual titles to go with the three team titles. He swam to a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (52.58), 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.11) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:58.63).
Benjamin Brewer won two events for the Purple and Gold as he finished first in the 400-yard IM (4:17.15) and the 500-yard free (4:51.46).
Three more Kingsmen claimed an event title as Rodarte won the 100-yard backstroke (55.68), Hobbs took home the 1,650-yard free (16:50.09) and Nicholas Kenny won the 100-yard free (49.18).
The teams return home and host the Chris Knorr Invitational, Jan. 5-6, at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.
Results: Banana Slug Invitational
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
