Dec. 4, 2009

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - LMU swimming finished day one of the 2009 AT&T Short Course National Championships on Thursday. The Lions competed in the 200 freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay, the 200 individual medley and the 50 freestyle events.

The Lions posted the 11th-best time in the 200 freestyle relay preliminaries, as the team of Carolyn Pasque, Isabella Zhang, Camille Hopp and Anne Scott combined for a time of 1:35.25. Oregon State locked-up the eighth spot in the preliminaries with a time of 1:34.23. The Lions' time put them in the "B" final, where they finished third in that race (11th overall) with a time of 1:34.83. Cal's quartet of Amanda Larson, Colleen Fotsch, Erica Dagg and Liv Jensen won the "A" final in 1:31.64.

Freshman Kia Dobie swam a 2:12.08 in the prelims of the 200 IM, as the top time in the prelims went to Ariana Kukors at 1:57.28. Kukors bettered her time in the final, winning the race in 1:55.40. A pair of Lion swimmers, Scott and Zhang, entered the water in the 50 freestyle. Scott touched the wall in 23.56 for 30th overall in the prelims, followed by Zhang in 42nd at 23.70. Scott narrowly missed a spot in the finals, as the top-24 swimmers advanced to a final swim. Rachel Millet held that spot in the preliminaries with a time of 23.41. The best preliminary time in the 50 went to Jessica Hardy at 22.19, but the top time in the finals belonged to Amanda Weir at 21.90.

LMU's 400 medley relay team consisting of Tammy Choy, Hopp, Trinity O'Neill and Scott stopped the clock at 3:56.41, good for 29th overall. The best mark on Thursday went to Cal's team of Dagg, Caitlin Leverenz, Amanda Sims and Jensen at 3:37.09.

Competition continues Friday with the men's and women's 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. PT, and finals begin at 5 p.m. PT.