Oct. 6, 2008
Swimmers from the University of New Mexico competed at the 9th annual RCP Tiburon Mile Open Water swim on Sunday, Oct. 5 in Tiburon, Calif. The Lobos placed sixth out of 11 teams finishing behind Mission Viejo Natadores, Cal, Stanford, Pacific, and Lakeridge. The Tiburon Open Mile is one of the most competitive open swims in the world with over 20 countries represented and more than 900 swimmers.
Freshman Maria Dudley led the way for UNM in the 13-18 year old division finishing fourth out of 65 swimmers. She was followed by freshman Tonya Gramstad who finished 15th. In the 19-29 year old division sophomore Sally Bellinger finished fourth, followed by junior Jennifer Burgess in fifth and freshman Brittany Anderson in seventh.
“This was an amazing experience for our team,” said head coach Tracy Ljone. “We had never done an event of this magnitude nor under these conditions before. We had no idea what to expect running into the San Francisco Bay with 900 other swimmers in 58 degree water! I am so proud of how our ten women swam today and for their fantastic enthusiasm towards this challenging adventure. I hope it will become a tradition for our team.”
The race will be aired on TV on Comcast (Fox) Sports Network on Nov. 27 at 6 p.m.; Nov. 29 at 4pm; Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.; and Dec 6 at 5 p.m.
Full Results:
13-18 year olds, Non-wetsuit division: 65 swimmer total
4th – Maria Dudley
15th- Tonya Gramstad
25th – Alyssa Higgs
31st – Tesse Maciejko
33rd – Erica Stuart
19-29 year olds, Non-wetsuit division: 32 swimmers total
4th – Sally Bellinger
5th – Jennifer Burgess
7th – Brittany Anderson
10th – Theresa Rogers
13th – Katrina McLoughlin