Pepperdine vs Azusa Pacific
- January 25, 2025
- Malibu, Calif.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Pepperdine Athletics
MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine Swim and Dive program recorded a total of nine first place finishes en route to a 184-116 victory over Azusa Pacific at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday.
The Waves defeated the Cougars on senior day for the sixth straight season and improved to 6-0 all-time against them in dual meets.
SWIM RECAP
RELAYS
In the 200 medley relay, the squad of Layla Busquets (Diablo, Calif.), Charli Sunahara (Chino, Calif.), Alexandra Browne (Arlington, Va.) and Anna Ryan (Alamo, Calif.) took first with a time of 1:47.06.
The group of Lindsay Hemming (Orinda, Calif.), Eleanor Mashkovich (Calabasas, Calif.), Lexie Deitemeyer (Golden, Colo.) and Browne finished in second in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:38.22.
INDIVIDUALS
Pepperdine earned the top spot in six out of the 12 individual events, while two Wave seniors won individual events during their last home meet.
Senior Alexandra Browne won the 50 free for the seventh time this year after finishing her swim in 23.65. She also won the 100 free after notching a time of 52.54. Senior Jessica Calderoni (Los Altos, Calif.) took first in the 200 fly after finishing the event in 2:11.42. In the 200 IM, AJ Adams (Castle Rock, Colo.) finished the fastest, posting a time of 2:10.98. Ansley Halbach (Watkinsville, Ga.) won the 1000 free after finishing with a time of 10:40.47. In the 200 breast, Sunahara took first with a time of 2:24.58.
Highlighted by senior Eleanor Mashkovich’s times in the 50 free (25.28), eight Pepperdine swimmers collected a total of nine second place finishes today. Other Waves who earned second place finishes were AJ Adams (Castle Rock, Colo.) (200 free, 1:58.79), Busquets (100 back, 59.18/100 free, 54.82), Halbach (500 free, 5:12.87), Nora Rabe (Wayzata, Minn.) (200 breast, 224.84), Sunahara (100 breast, 1:07.04), Sophia Ware (Allen, Texas) (200 back, 2:10.38/100 fly, 59.22)
Six Waves earned the final spot in the podium in their events: Abild (100 breast, 1:07.30/200 breast, 2:25.62), Adams (500 free, 5:15.81), Mollie Cho (Frisco, Texas) (200 fly, 2:14.76), Deitemeyer (100 fly, 59.58), Emily Garrison (Byron, Minn.) (100 free, 54.95) Hemming (200 back, 2:10.46).
All results from today’s meet can be found on the Pepperdine swim and dive schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
DIVING RECAP
In the 3-meter, Lexie Martin (Keller, Texas) won the event on her senior day after posting a 264.23. Amanda Wong (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Delainey Pisaruk (Phoenix, Ariz.) rounded out the podium with respective scores of 243.45 and 220.65
The Waves also collected all three podium spots in the 1-meter as Wong took first place with a total of 232.73 points, while Martin and Pisaruk rounded out the top-three with respective scores of 225.00 and 220.43.
QUOTABLES
“We had a strong finish to what has been the most unstable few weeks of my time in collegiate swimming,” head coach Ellie Monobe said. “From battling the local weather, evacuations and uncertainty, this group has faced the most adversity I’ve ever seen and we had a stellar performance given everything that we’ve been through. I want to give a big shout out to our seniors. It was incredible to watch Lexie Martin take the win on the 3-meter. She’s worked so hard on her dive list and it was amazing to see everything come together for her. We also had a huge win from Jessica Calderoni in the 200 fly, and everyone will tell you that she had a very gutsy swim in the event. As always, watching Alexandra Browne put it all on the line and be the pillar of our swim group was great to see. It was also bittersweet to see her take those last wins in the sprints for us this year. All-in-all, our seniors did a phenomenal job and watching everyone rally around those groups of girls was emotional, but awesome to see.”
“We’re very excited about where we are. We know we need to clean up some things, but with some added rest we’re looking forward to a very exciting conference meet to wrap up the season. I want to say thank you to all of our supporters and I definitely want to shout out to everyone that has assisted us over these last couple weeks. From USD to UC San Diego to Fresno State to the local swim and dive communities, it has been a whirlwind over the past two weeks and we couldn’t have made today happen without all those people. I’d also like to acknowledge our parents, families and community members that came out to support. This is what our program is about, it’s about family and supporting each other through everything. We felt all the love today, and we’re excited to keep pushing forward and looking ahead to conference.”
NEXT UP
Pepperdine will have three and half weeks off before heading to St. George, Utah for the MPSF Championships, which are set to begin on Wednesday, February 19.
Courtesy: Azusa Pacific Athletics
MALIBU, Calif. – The Cougar swimming and diving team competed in their final meet of the season, dropping a dual contest against Pepperdine on Saturday by a final score of 184-116.
How It Happened: Azusa Pacific may not have won the team competition, but they still had their fair share of winners on the day, starting with the third event in the pool as Montana White was first to the wall in the 200 freestyle, finishing in a time of 1:52.12 and earning nine points toward the overall standings. Mikaela Maemura made it two on the trot with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke immediately following that heat, recording a 57.73. Capturing the Cougars’ third straight event was freshman Lana Irene Abasolo, who won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:02.70.
After several events won by the host Waves, Marci Yanagawa got the Cougars back in the win column by beating everyone to the wall in the 200 backstroke at 2:08.99. White then captured her second event of the day, winning the 500 freestyle in 5:02.09. Maemura picked up another first place in the 100 butterfly, with her 57.20 giving the Cougars their sixth event win of the day. The team would add a seventh in the closing event, as White, Maemura, Sydnee Wilson, and Hannah Swailes were first to the wall in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing in a time of 3:32.85.
This is the fourth meeting between the two programs. Pepperdine has won all four meetings, though this was the closest final score since the first meeting in January of 2020. Azusa Pacific finishes the season with a 2-1 record in dual meets.
Up Next: Now comes a two-and-a-half week sprint to the finish as the Cougars’ next scheduled event is the PCSC Conference Championships, scheduled for February 12-15 at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.
