SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The College of Idaho swim and dive teams made a strong statement to open their season at the UC Santa Cruz Slug Shootout Invitational, highlighted by personal records across the board and a pair of school records on the boards.
The women's squad posted improvements from last year in all four relays: the 200 and 400 medley and the 200 and 400 freestyle, all swum by Shae Arnold, Sophie Mottishaw, Reese Kerr-Tayrien and Lily Schroer. Arnold led the way with a 10-second drop in the 200 breaststroke and another significant cut in the 100 breast. Kerr-Tayrien also shined individually, taking 12 seconds off her collegiate best in the 500 freestyle with a 6:15.80. Mottishaw opened the season strong, scoring the most points for the women's team.
On the men's side, freshman Jace Zemlicka paced the Yotes with 43 points in his collegiate debut, competing in five events. He placed sixth in the mile (18:00.49) and eighth in the 200 butterfly (2:09.26). Fellow freshman Caden LaRue made an impact as part of all four relays, while senior Sam Cortez kicked off his final season with heat wins in each of his four relay swims and both the 100 and 200 freestyle.
Cahill Robinson highlighted Saturday's session with a 2:14.20 in the 200 breaststroke and a head-to-head win over Cortez in the 50 breast. Karl Yount was a key contributor in all four "A" relays and added a heat win in the 50 butterfly. Alec Rodriguez demolished his season goals in the 50 and 100 breaststroke, earning points and finishing fourth in the 50. Brenden Wilson added to the list of strong swims with a three-second personal best in the 100 butterfly, clocking in at 1:01.11.
Matti Eikenes posted a lifetime best in the 200 backstroke and totaled 28 points on the weekend, while diver Matthew Logston shattered school records on both boards, topping his own mark in the 3-meter (276.35) and setting a new record in the 1-meter (266.65).
Nolan Geffros impressed in the 200 fly with a 2:31.82, and newcomer Ty Frigaard made his collegiate debut on the 1-meter board, rounding out a weekend that saw the Yotes post major time drops and strong early-season momentum.
