Lopes end home slate with win

Saturday, January 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

163

136

California Baptist

1/25/2020 8:26:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

GCU vs. CBU

GCU beats CBU 163-136

By: Sierra Smith

The Grand Canyon women's swimming and diving team finished its last home meet of the season beating California Baptist 163-136 on Saturday afternoon.

Seniors Salma Zaitoun, Talita Te Flan and Roaia Mashaly were recognized for their time at GCU and were able to take home a win for their last time at their home pool.

"We swam and dove very well today with some surprisingly fast times, including several pool records," Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer said. "It was fun to be able to send off our seniors with wins for their final home meet."

The Lopes began the day with a win in the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Briana Rittenbach, junior Marina McInelly, freshman Cecelia Mayer and sophomore Emily Muteti finished in 1 minute, 45.02 seconds.

Freshman Kelsey Andrusak won the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:51.76.

The Lopes swept the 100 backstroke as sophomore Kyra Forrest took the gold (58.23), Rittenbach finished second (58.76) and sophomore Robyn Edwards placed third (58.90).

McInelly had several strong individual swims. She finished first in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.00) and 200 breaststroke (2:18.50) and posted a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley.

"On paper, the CBU women were favored to win the meet," Schaffer said. "Especially after a particularly tough week of training, everyone came to race. It was a complete team effort."

Sophomore Emily Muteti claimed the gold in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.23 seconds.

The Lopes placed first, second, and third in the 200 breaststroke with swims from Edwards (2:04.36), Forrest (2:07.93), and sophomore Hannah Barker (2:08.88)

Mayer and Muteti took the top two spots in the 100 butterfly. The first-place time by Mayer was 57.38 seconds while Muteti finished in 57.43 seconds.

In the final event of the meet, the Lopes won the 200 freestyle relay with Andrusak, Mayer, Zaitoun and Muteti (1:36.97).

The women's divers swept the top three spots in the 1-meter dive led by freshman Sara Lameiro Castellanos with a score of 290.05. Freshman Ava Talorico took second with a score of 251.80 and junior Tasmin Steward placed third scoring 249.80.

"We had some grumbling about working too hard this week before this meet, so I met with the team before the start today and explained that we are preparing for a tough three-day WAC Championships," Schaffer said. "They are going to get to the final day of WAC and will be tired like they are now. This week was a rehearsal for that. They certainly passed the test today."

Up next, the Lopes will travel to UNLV to take on the Rebels before going to the WAC Championships.

Follow GCU swimming and diving on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_Swimming for more information throughout the season.