BURNABY, B.C. – The No. 16-ranked SFU Red Leafs women's swim team escaped the winter weather with a trip to the Sunshine State this weekend. The first competition of its road swing came Friday in Hayward, California, where the Red Leafs finished a double dual meet with a solid 1-1 record.
 
SFU earned a dominant 124-81 win over the host California State East Bay Pioneers, the No. 18 team in the latest NCAA Division II women's swimming rankings. The Red Leafs were toppled 117-88 by the Div. I San Jose State Spartans.
 
Tori Meklensek from Kitchener, Ont., was a standout in her three events. The junior took the top spot in the 1,000-yard freestyle, posting a blistering time of just 10 minutes 19.94 seconds. Completing the podium sweep, Red Leafs rookies Rachel Tong of Burnaby, B.C. (10:57.55), and Laine Perry of Comox, B.C. (10:57.94), were just hundredths of a second apart as they took second and third place.
 
Meklensek also earned second-place finishes in her other two races Saturday, the 500-yard freestyle and as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay. The latter saw Meklensek team up with junior Abby Williams (St. John, N.L.), Newmarket, Ont., sophomore Aly Whitmore, and freshman Kayla Houlder (Milton, Ont.) to earn a time of 3:30.78, just behind CSEB's 3:28.77.
 

The Red Leafs had several top-three finishes outside of those previously mentioned. Whitmore (52.62) and Williams (52.73) placed second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle. Williams also took second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.70.
 
Sophomore Delrae Vetter from Medicine Hat, Alta., earned second place in the 400-yard individual medley with her 4:41.63. In addition to her result in the 100-yard freestyle, Tong also captured third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:13.91).
 
SFU's 200-yard medley relay team of Williams, Vetter, Whitmore and Houlder were second, getting to the finish in 1:46.56.
 
The Red Leafs will remain in Hayward, with a gauntlet on the cards for tomorrow morning. In addition to a rematch against host Cal State East Bay, SFU will also take on the California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, as well as the Southwestern Oregon Lakers. The teams are set to hit the water around 10 a.m.
 
On Sunday, the Red Leafs men's and women's teams will race at Div. I Pacific in Stockton, California.

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