Friday Results | Saturday Results
 
MALIBU, CA. – The Loyola Marymount University Women's Swimming team opened the 2021-22 season with a trip to Malibu for the Rodionoff Invitational. The two-day invite produced solid results for the Lions in both relays and individual events.
 
Freshman Ashley Leaman had a superb outing for LMU earning three third place finishes and achieving personal best times in two of her four individual races. Leaman started off her collegiate career taking third in the 200 Individual Medley with a "PR" of 2:13.62 followed by standout returner Heidi Ly in fourth who posted a 2:14.77. 
 
In her second race as a Lion, Leaman found herself in a three-way battle with Pepperdine's Ellie Mashkovich and freshman teammate Natalie Hogenboom in the 200 butterfly where only .4 separated all three swimmers. Mashkovich got the win touching in 2:15.25, .1 in front of Hogenboom at 2:15.35 with Leaman posting another "PR" in 2:15.75.  
 
Leaman and Ly would return on Saturday to both compete in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke with Leaman collecting another third place in the butterfly race in a fast early season time of 59.89 and Ly picking up an eighth place point. In the 100 backstroke they reversed their placings with Ly taking third place in a time of 1:00.91 and Leaman picking up the point in eighth.
 
In the 1000 freestyle, a trio of Lions led by Holly Prince placed second, third and fourth. Prince had a solid start to her sophomore year in the runner-up position posting a time of 11:13.40, followed by freshmen Bella Flaminio and Caitlin Basulto in third and fourth with strong early season times of 11:21.99 and 11:22.66 respectively. 
 
Junior Kelli Andrade opened her season with a second place finish in the 100 breaststroke when she touched at 1:09.26 followed by Ly, Abby Shaw, Frances Dygean, and Lydia Zicker which made for five Lions finishing in the top seven.  Andrade also scored in the 200 breaststroke in fifth place.  
 
Junior Lily Gallagher had a solid start to the season, collecting two third place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyle events, while also scoring in sixth place in the 200 backstroke behind teammate Sarah Lu who placed fifth. Sophomore Bebe Choroser scored additional points for the Lions in the event placing seventh. 
 
Shaw was the lone scorer for the Lions is the 50 freestyle where less than .3 separate the top eight finishers. Gigi Zinis from San Diego got her hand on the wall first in 25.10 while Shaw touched .18 later in sixth with a solid early season time of 25.28.
 
According to Head Coach, Bonnie Adair, this was one of the team's best starts in the last five years.  "The energy and spirit of this team was exceptional on both days even after the competition on Friday lasted late into the evening – which is unusual for our team as most meets are held in the daylight," said Adair. "Eating late at 8:00pm and not getting back to campus until 9:00 was difficult, and it showed a bit on Saturday when the team returned to the water for a 7:30am warm-up. Coach Brasher has been pounding our swimmers hard in the weight room and I know their legs were feeling fatigued on Saturday, but they just keep getting up on the blocks and racing hard. Our five new freshmen have added a new energy to our squad and I can't wait to see how they develop during this first month of competitions."    
 
The Lions return to the pool for their home opener at Burns Aquatics Center when Seattle University, San Diego State, and Grand Canyon University visit for a two-day meet October 22nd at 12:00 p.m. and 23rd at 11:00 a.m.