PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 13, 2023) – The Whittier College women's swimming & diving team took another step in its preparation for the 2023 SCIAC Championships, competing at Caltech in Pasadena on Saturday afternoon.
The Poets challenged the Beavers, coming within 43 points on the team score while putting up 121. With the Beavers considered a top-half of the SCIAC program, Whittier's top swimmers on the women's side showed they were more than capable of competing at a high level. The Poets had multiple event winners, including junior Anna Dyckerhoff. Dyckerhoff, who typically splits time between swimming freestyle and butterfly, thrived in a transition to Distance Free and IM events. She won the 500 Free in 5:30.47, finishing three seconds ahead of teammate Riana Barrett. Barrett, however, bested Dyckerhoff by 13 seconds in the 100 Free, alternating positions and touching the wall with a time of 11:13.48.
Dyckerhoff also competed with another Whittier event winner, freshman Mia Piexoto in the 200 IM. Piexoto won the event with a 2:14.71 that is closely on par with a seed time of 2:13.46. Meanwhile, both Poets came together in the 200 Medley Relay, where they took second in combining with freshman Tara Hendrickson and junior Gessica King. King won the 100 Breast, holding off Caltech's talented freshman duo behind a time of 1:10.29.
Whittier's divers also contributed to the overall score at Caltech, with Miriam Brownell and Juli Veneri competing in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Brownell, who has been developing under Head Diving Coach Eric Lesser, took third in both competitions.
Head Coach Michael Jafari and the Poets will aim to continue their pursuit of SCIAC Championship form in two weeks' time when they host the University of La Verne in the annual Senior Day meet
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