College of Marin Swimming did exceedingly well in their home meet on Saturday. The Mariners hosted swimmers from City College of San Francisco, Laney College and Solano College at the Indian Valley Campus. A wet and cloudy day did not slow down Marin who had top three finishes in seven individual events. Nicholas Cruse, the lone gentleman on the team, made his season debut and took first place in all three of his races while Shannon Madsen did very well in her three individual performances.
The Mariners swim team features just two sophomores but both had excellent days in the pool.
Shannon Madsen was the Mariners speed queen on the day. She started off with a third-place finish in the 50 Yard Free in a time of 27.59 seconds. She followed that up with a second-place finish in the 200 Yard Free in 2:21.59 and also took fourth place in the 100 Yard Free with a time of 1:03.60.
Nick Cruse was perfect on the day beginning with a dominating victory in the 100 Yard Breast. He took first in 1:03.51 and outpaced the second-place finisher by more than 15 seconds. Cruse's next feat was in the 200 Yard Free where nearly lapped the next closest finisher. He completed the race in 1:51.22, more than 40 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. The sophomore finished the day with a win in the 200 Yard IM taking first by almost 20 seconds and time of 2:05.53. All in all it was an excellent way to open Cruse's 2019 season.
Freshman Sasha Urban made her presence known as she took first and third in her two individual races. Urban was victorious in the 50 Yard Breast, out pacing her nearest opponent by 0.83 seconds to record a final time of 34.90 seconds. She finished third in the 200 Yard IM with a time of 2:33.18, just five seconds back of the first finisher.
Freshman Keturah Fluno finished the 50 Yard Free in 43.05 seconds, an improvement of over four seconds from her previous time. She also finished seventh in the 50 Yard Back with a time of 45.62 seconds.
Elsa Ledesma made her season debut and took 16th in the 50 Yard Free with a time of 38.83 seconds.
The quartet of Madsen, Urban, Fluno and Ledesma combined in a pair of relay races as well. Marin opened the day with a fourth-place finish in the 200 Yard Medley Relay with a final time of 2:33.39. They finished up the day in the 200 Yard Free Relay with a time of 2:18.37.
It was a very solid showing by the hosting Mariners on Saturday in Novato.
Up next for the black and gold is a trip to College of San Mateo on Friday, March 15th.
