HOUSTON – The 20th-ranked Trinity University women's swimming & diving team opened its season by sweeping all 13 events against the University of St. Thomas (TX) on Saturday.

The Tigers won 11 individual races and two relays on their way to victory in their first matchup of the young season. Senior Neely Burns (Phoenix, Ariz. / Thunderbird) and first-years Kaya Alvegaard-Struble (Kansas City, Mo. / Pembroke Hill) and Kaitlyn Phan (Austin, Texas / Westlake) won two events each to lead the way and five other swimmers also scored individual wins.

Burns and Alvegaard-Struble teamed up for another win as part of the 400 free relay that started off the meet, swimming the first two legs of the race. They were followed by first-year Ava Easley (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) and junior Amy Benson (Newmarket, N.H. / Phillips Exeter Academy) and the quartet posted a winning time of 3:45.43. Trinity also took second as junior Allison Ortiz (Houston, Texas / Stratford), senior Jules Wiehrdt (Waco, Texas / Midway), sophomore Sienna Nordquist (Albuquerque, N.M. / Hope Christian), and senior Erin Morie (St. Louis, Mo. / Cor Jesu Academy) clocked in at 3:53.26.

Sophomore Emme Penry (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) took the first individual win of the day in the 200 breaststroke, finishing in 2:31.40 to edge out first-year Sophia Mandanis (Wichita, Kan. / Andover) in second place with a time of 2:33.26.

Trinity took the top three spots in the 100 backstroke and Phan picked up her first win of the day after breaking one minute with a time of 59.54 seconds. Senior Lindsay McKinney (Victoria, Texas / Saint Joseph) was second in 1:08.17 and narrowly beat fellow senior Renee Trombley (Fort Collins, Colo. / Fossil Ridge) by a mere 0.01 seconds.

Alvegaard-Struble led the way in the 100 freestyle for her first win of the day, finishing in 55.56 as part of Trinity going 1-2-3-4 in the event. The next three Tiger finishers were separated by just 0.39 seconds as sophomore Anna Stouffer (St. Louis, Mo. / Clayton) was second in 57.83 seconds, Nordquist was third in 57.98 seconds, and Wiehrdt touched the wall in 58.22 seconds for fourth place.
The 200 individual medley was next, and Burns was first with a time of 2:13.42 to lead another medal sweep for the Tigers. Penry took silver behind her teammate in 2:17.62, followed by Mandanis and her third-place time of 2:18.28 in the race.

The 200 free was another victory for Alvegaard-Struble (in a time of 2:02.24) and another race with four Tigers at the top of the finishers. Stouffer was the runner-up in 2:06.29 and was just ahead of senior Audrey Jacobson (Dallas, Texas / School for the Talent and Gifted) and her time of 2:06.82. Trombley came in fourth with a time of 2:11.58.

Benson led a group of five Tigers atop the final standings in the 100 butterfly, finishing in a time of 59.73. Easley was the only other swimmer to come in under one minute, finishing second in 59.85 seconds. Ortiz took third in 1:00.27 and first-year Addie Domilise (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) was fourth in 1:03.59. Morie came in fifth at 1:04.25 to finish off the dominating race for the Tigers.

Wiehrdt picked up the sprint win in the 50 free by a narrow margin in 25.78, just beating out Easley's runner-up time of 25.80 seconds. Stouffer was not far behind with a time of 26.27 that was good for the bronze medal.

The 200 back was another event with five Trinity swimmers clocking in with the five best times, featuring the second win of the day for Phan. She finished in 2:10.28 to win the race ahead of runner-up Alvegaard-Struble's time of 2:11.67. Ortiz was third in 2:19.59, followed by Benson in fourth in 2:21.53, and Trombley in fifth in 2:25.01.

Trinity went 1-2-3 in each of the final two individual events, starting with the 100 breast that was won by Burns in 1:09.52. McKinnley finished second by just 0.24 seconds, followed by Penry in third with a time of 1:10.12. The final event was the 200 fly and featured a win by Mandanis in 2:15.20. Morie was second in 2:18.99 and Domilise took third in 2:24.74.

The day ended with the 200 medley relay and the Tigers put together one more sweep to finish off the meet. Trinity took the top three spots in the relay with the team of Easley, Mandanis, Ortiz, and Wiehrdt winning in 1:51.88. Phan, Burns, Domilise, and Penry were second in 1:54.88 and Benson, McKinney, Morie, and Stouffer clocked in at 1:58.96 to take third place.

Coach Speak
"Today was a lot of fun," exclaimed Head Coach Cathleen Pruden. "The sun was hot, but we did a nice job accepting our environment and putting in good effort. It was great to see the first years showing up for their first college meet. We have a lot of work to do on our race execution, but we have a lot of time left to figure it out! We're excited to see our big group of first-year divers join us in two weeks against UTPB!"

Up Next
Trinity will host its annual Alumni Meet during Trinity's Alumni Weekend on Saturday, October 25, at 10:00 a.m. The Tigers will face off against the University of Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday, November 1.