The Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving team kicked off the Malibu Invitational today with the diving and distance events. Sophomore Sydney Newman highlighted the day for the Waves, and finished runner-up in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events.
Newman (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS), Pepperdine’s top diver at the PCSC Championships last season, continues to lead in 2014-15. She began the day on the 3-meter, where she placed second behind a career-best score of 236.10.
She continued to dive well in the 1-meter competition that followed, and scored a season-high 213.50 points to again take second place.
Oklahoma Baptist’s Genesis Veliz ran away with the competition, and topped the podium in both the 1-meter and 3-meter.
Erin Himes (West Chester, Pa./Unionville HS) paced the Waves in the 1650 freestyle, aka the Malibu Mile. With a time of 19:17.70, the sophomore placed sixth.
Jessica Mosbaugh (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) won her heat of the 400 IM and placed fourth overall behind a time of 4:38.26.
Freshman Lauren Stigers (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay HS) followed with an 11th-place result, clocking a 4:54.70.
In the 500 freestyle, Heather Connelly (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge HS) led the way for Pepperdine. The freshman posted a time of 5:20.45, which would have ranked No. 2 in the Waves’ season-best list from 2013-14 – an impressive result considering this is just her second meet of the season.
The Malibu Invitational concludes on Saturday. Middle distance events will take place at 10 a.m. with the sprints to follow.
