REDLANDS, CA — Jordan Clarke led the Leopards with three wins as the University of La Verne swim and dive team opened SCIAC action Friday at the University of Redlands.

Clarke, just a freshman, continued to shine in her young Leopard career with dominant performances in a wide range of swims. She won the 1000 free with a mark of 11:47.06 and turned around two events later to snag a win in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 32.60. She came back in the second half of the meet to show her versatility by winning the 50 butterfly in 28.67.

Fellow freshman newcomer Sydney Yamamoto took first in the 500 freestyle with a drop of seven seconds from her swim last week. She also had a team-leading time of 58.35 in the 100 free and finished just behind Jordan Clarke in the 50 Breaststroke in 35.21.

Junior Neve Dagdagan added a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke in a season best of 1:03.05, second in the 50 backstroke with 29.44, and third in the 50 free with 27.14. Junior Lily Florez took second in the 100 fly with a 1:05.48 and second in the 50 fly with 29.43.

"We saw improvement this weekend at the first SCIAC meet of the season. Leading the pack were freshmen Jordan and Sydney and seniors Shaun [Concepcion] and Jaden [Feliciano], all of whom scored incredibly well in both individual and relay events," said University of La Verne swim and dive head coach Pat Skehan.

For the men, the return of diver Shaun Concepcion led to a 1-2 finish with him and Milton Guitierrez on the 1-meter board.

Jaden Feliciano continued to be a dominant factor with three second-place finishes in the 200 free (1:53.42, a five-second improvement from last week), 50 free (23.11), and 500 free (5:14.74). Jaden was chased to the finish by teammate Gabriel Graceffa, who finished third in the 500 free in 5:15.44.

"The team made some huge corrections and improvements top to bottom this week. Everyone swam the most events they could at a meet with a quick timeline. I believe this will help make the team better racers. I'm really happy with our energy and improvements, and I'm looking forward to the Winter Invite in a few weeks," said Skehan.

The Leopards return to action this Saturday, November 15, with a tri-meet against Occidental and Pomona-Pitzer. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. at Occidental.