By Ron Smith
October 5, 2025
 
(MALIBU, Calif.) Westmont's swim team dove into the 2025-26 season this weekend by competing at the Rodionoff Invitational at Pepperdine on Friday and Saturday. The event included teams from all three NCAA divisions as well as NAIA schools. The Warriors finished fourth among the nine schools and first among NCAA DII teams with 182 points. Colorado State Pueblo was second among DII institutions with 169 points while Azusa Pacific was third with 165 points.
 
Westmont head coach Jill Lin, who is beginning her seventh year at the helm of the program, wanted her team to take a different approach to the season's inaugural meet this year.
 
"Our theme this year is, 'unshakable'," explained Lin. "We want to be women who are unshakable. It is not because of anything we do, but the fact that we serve an unshakable God. He is our firm foundation and we have nothing to fear.
 
"In the past, I think we have sometimes come into meets thinking unless we have a tech suit on, and unless it is a big meet, we can't go a best time. We have put a ceiling on ourselves. I am trying to open their eyes to see that they can race their absolute best at a meet that doesn't seem to matter. We want to make every meet matter and make sure everyone is getting up and racing and inspiring others to do that. I think they did a great job of that today. This is probably the most momentum we have had on the first day of this meet in a really long time."
 
That new attitude was evident from the first event, the 200 yard freestyle relay, which featured three Warrior teams. The A-relay, which consisted of Noelle Landon, Willow Pezone, Kate Spraul and Emma Bustamante, posted a time of 1:42.67 to take first among DII schools.
 
"The 200 freestyle relay has been fun for us," said Lin. "We don't have a lot of strict sprinters. We did three relays to see who could step up and what might be possible for our upcoming meets. All three relay teams did a good job. Some outstanding swims included Daisy Marquardt who is battling an injury. She had a great 50-yard swim. Lauren Healy had a great anchor leg for the B-relay. Our A-relay did a good job, all under 26 seconds. Emma Bustamante was the anchor for that relay and had the fastest split (25.47). All-around, really well done."
 
The first individual event was the 200 yard individual medley with Madi Edwards finishing with a best time of 2:16.58 among DII competitors.
 
"It was fun to see Madi swim as a freshman in her first individual race," expressed Lin. "She is a really tough swimmer, so it was fun to see her get after it. She had a great back half in the breaststroke and the freestyle and finished strong.
 
"Lilli Nimitz started off the 200 IM swimming in the first heat. I told the women they could get one of our new fancy caps if they had a lifetime best time at this meet. I challenged them to think outside the realm of possibility, and that they could get a lifetime best time at this meet today. Lilli led that charge."
 
Nimitz received the new headwear after finishing in a time of 2:25.26.
 
In the 1000 yard freestyle, Kimberly Greene was the first Warrior finisher with a time of 10:58.53.
 
"Our distance crew has been putting in some tough work," reported Lin. "We are preparing for the open water 5,000 meters in a few weeks, so they have been training distance every day. It is definitively wearing on them, but they are a strong group of women who are super tough.
 
"It has been fun to see them attack their races. Specifically, Kimberly Greene, a freshman. She is such a light and a spirit of joy on our team. She really went after it and it was so fun to watch her race. She was just a few seconds off of her lifetime best."
 
Landon led the way for the Warriors in the 200 yard backstroke, posting a time of 2:15.94.
 
"It was a great showing for us having three swimmers under 2:20 was awesome. Noelle, Katlyn McCurtain (2:16.26) and Megan Traina (2:17.02) had really great races. I was really excited to see them improve in the 200 back."
 
Abigail Rickard placed second among DII schools in the 100 yard backstroke, posting a time of 1:11.93.
 
"Overall, our performance in the 100 yard breaststroke was strong," reflected Lin. "It was fun to see a bunch of our swimmers in the second heat swim all together. Meliana Calica had an incredible race – a lifetime best time (1:12.03). She was really getting after it. Abby had a solid race. She is so consistent and I am really proud of her for fighting through that."
 
Lin sent 11 different Warriors to the starting blocks for the 100 yard freestyle, which saw Pezone post the Warriors' fastest time of 55.36.
 
"It was fun to see a couple of the swimmers get close to lifetime bests," noted Lin. "Kimberly was just a second off. Daisy had another really good swim, coming off of injury and hardly training. Refocusing on freestyle has been really important and it is cool to see her back this year in her sprinting style."
 
Emma Bustamante posted a DII second-best time of 2:16.57 200 in the 200 yard butterfly.
 
"I am always so grateful for our 200 flyers," said Lin. "They are just the toughest humans. To have Alison McDougal, Izzy Garcia and Emma Bustamante in that event – I just love how they take ownership of it and go swim it without fear. Izzy finished the race and told me she loved it and would go out and do it every meet if she could. I am excited to see how they progress."
 
Competition ended on the first day with the 400 yard relay.
 
"It was not our best," acknowledged Lin, "but they were tired and I am hopeful for that relay. I think that is another shot we have to break a school record this year. I would love to see that happen."
 
On Saturday, the meet resumed with the 200 yard medley relay.
 
"Definitely not our best relay," said Lin. "We don't have the speed to stay up with the teams we are racing against. We are just trying to see our options. We had some good swims, especially our breaststrokers, who were super consistent. Abby went 32.6, which is a great split for her. Madi and Grace both had 33s, which is really impressive."
 
Regarding the 400 yard individual medley, Lin said, "Tiffany Ball had a great race (5:11.22), as did Meliana (5:03.06). Mel was close to her lifetime best. Also, I'm really excited about Madi (4:51.62). That was her second fastest, non-tech suited time to swim in that event. It was exciting to see her come out and race. She had a super good back half."
 
In the 200 yard freestyle, Spraul was the Warriors' top finisher at 1:59.68. Marquardt touched the wall in a time of 2:02.87.
 
"Across the board, we swam really well," assessed Lin of the 200 yard freestyle. "McKenzie Rion had a great race (2:02.94). We are making her more of a sprinter and have been in the transition now. She is doing well under that training with Bailey."
 
Bustamante turned in the Warriors' fastest time in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:02.49.
 
"It was fun to see Noelle swim the 100 fly. She is a sophomore transfer who went a lifetime best time (1:07.31), but there is still a lot of room to grow. Izzy Garcia, another freshman, also had a great 100 fly (1:06.17). It is fun to see what we can do with her. She came in as a distance swimmer, but she has some options. Kimberly is not a butterflier, but was pretty close to her lifetime best time (1:03.24), which is exciting."
 
Rickard made her presence known with the best DII time in the 200 yard breaststroke (2:33.43).
 
"The biggest shout out to Abby," expressed Lin. "It was such a solid race. Without the tech suit, she only added about three seconds to her lifetime best time. It was probably the best paced and swam race that she has ever done in that event. She is battling a major injury and she is hardly training at all, but she has been so resilient and so gritty. It is so impressive to see someone who every time she swims an event swims it to perfection even though she is in excruciating pain; and she is always smiling afterwards."
 
In the 100 yard backstroke, Landon was the fastest Westmont finisher with a time of 1:00.79.
 
"Noelle represented for our backstrokers," pointed out Lin. "Meliana was close to her lifetime best time (1:05.87) and Megan had a good early-season back time (1:04.15)
 
Bustamante and Pezone finished first and second among Westmont swimmers in the 50 yard freestyle, posting times of 25.91 and 25.97 respectively.
 
"Kimberly had the fastest race for our team (5:21.18) in the 500 yard freestyle," said Lin. "She went after it like she did yesterday in the 1000. She is such a fierce racer, so it was fun to see her in a middle lane being able to lead the race and take ownership of it. Kimberly is such a positive human and it is fun to have her on our team."
 
Spraul finished second for the Warriors in the event, recording a time of 5:22.59.
 
Reflecting on the two-day event, Lin said, "This is early season stuff for us. It helps us see what we need to work on, so we are excited for next week to continue to do that. It is definitely the fastest we have ever swum at this meet, which is exciting. We went hard the first couple of weeks of practice, so we are seeing the fruit of their effort, which is great."
 
The Warriors are back in action next Friday and Saturday, October 10-11, when they participate in the UC Santa Cruz Slug Shootout.