By Ron Smith
October 11, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Participating in the UC Santa Cruz Slug Shootout on Friday and Saturday, Westmont Women's Swim finished fourth of eight schools.
 
Distance swimmers had a strong meet for the Warriors. Kimberly Greene placed fourth in the 1000 yard freestyle (10:57.70), fifth in the 500 yard freestyle (5:20.97), and third in the 1650 yard freestyle (18:18.90). Grace McAnear finished sixth in the 1000 (11:07.06), ninth in the 500 (5:24.30), and sixth in the 1650 (18:39.21). Emma Robinson recorded times of 11:19.93 in the 1000, 5:36.37 in the 500, and 18:52.86 in the 1650.
 
"We ended Saturday with the 1650 and our three milers swam a lot this weekend," noted Westmont's head coach Jill Lin. "It's so hard to swim 66 laps at the end of a really long meet. But they all rallied together and stayed positive and it really showed in their performance.
 
"It's been really amazing having Kimberly on the team. She brings so much joy and positivity and that's really something the distance group needs to keep them going. I've been really impressed with her leadership in that area and it's so fun to see her attack her races with that fierce joy. It's going to be a good year for that crew."
 
In Friday's events, Willow Pezone paced the Warriors in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.56 to finish 13th. Noelle Landon gave the Warriors a fifth place finish in the 100 yard backstroke. Kate Spraul placed seventh with a time of 4:54.69 in the 400 yard individual medley, which is an unusual event for her to swim.
 
"Our 200 yard freestyle relay was solid and we had some great swims on the B-team," noted Lin.
 
The A-team – consisting of Emma Bustamante, Pezone, Daisy Marquardt and Lauren Healy – turned in a time of 1:43.34 to claim fifth place. Lilli Nemetz, Leighton Bell, Greene and Robinson constituted the B-team that placed eighth with a time of 1:48.22. Bell and Robinson each recorded sub 27-second legs.

On Saturday, the meet included 50 yard races in the breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, a distance which is unusual for those strokes.
 
"It was fun to see Noelle swim the 50 yard backstroke and place fifth," expressed Lin. Landon finished in a time of 28.24. "Abby (Abigail Rickard) and Madi (Edwards) had great 50 yard breaststrokes. Rickard posted a time of 1:11.88 while Edwards notched a time of 1:14.30. "In the 50 yard butterfly, Emma Bustamante pulled out a third place finish (27.17) with a great race."
 
"Willow had our top time in the 100 yard freestyle (55.63) and snagged a seventh place finish with Kate Spraul right behind (eighth place, 55.86)," said Lin. "Lauren (56.68) and McKenzie Rion (57.40) both had really good swims and were moved up to the 4x100 relay A-Team.


"A few minutes later Kate swam the 200 yard individual medley - generally an off event for her - next to Madi and they both had a great race going back and forth leading throughout the 200," reported Lin. "Tiffany Ball went a lifetime best time!"
 
Spraul posted a time of 2:18.23 while Edwards touched the wall in 2:20.10. Ball's time was 2:28.82.
 
"In the 200 yard backstroke, it was fun to see Madi go for it and she came out in fourth place overall (2:13.86)," said Lin. "Noelle also had a great race and improved from last weekend." Landon finished seventh in a time of 2:15.11.

"The 200 yard breaststroke was the last stroke event of the day and Meliana Calica went out like lightning and was able to hold on for a season best time (2:37.15)," said Lin.
 
"The 4 x 100 yard freestyle relay A-team (Spraul, Pezone, Healy, Rion) did a really good job," expressed Lin. "McKenzie and Lauren really stepped up and they were amazing as our last two legs of the relay. They have both been working so hard in the pool and weight room and have been such impeccable leaders on our team. They have done so much for our team culture and it's so fun seeing them grow as sprinters." The foursome finished in sixth place with a time of 3:45.10.
 
Warrior swimmers tallied 615.5 points, placing behind meet winner Cal State East Bay (972.5), UC Santa Cruz (954.5) and Azusa Pacific (880). The Warriors finished ahead of Whittier (295), College of Idaho (55), Soka (10) and Simpson (1).
 
Next Saturday, October 18, Westmont distance swimmers will compete in the MPSF Open Water Championships. The event will be held at the Marine Stadium in Long Beach, which will serve as a venue for canoe and rowing events at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.