LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- Linfield men's and women's swimming wrapped up the Fall semester over the weekend, competing at East Los Angeles College over three days at the La Verne Winter Invitational. 11 Wildcats notched new career-best times at the meet.
 
The women's team finished 12 of 15 teams with 105-points for the meet, while the men's team posted 249-points to finish 10^th of 14 teams. 
 
Rocco Velie, Ivan Tontchev, Sam Postlewait, and Carson Washburn put the Wildcat's men's team on the board with a 1:28.00 in the 200-yard freestyle relay, placing 16^th of 24 relay teams. Kai Laitinen swam a new career-best time in the men's 500-yard freestyle, placing third in the C Final with a 4:47.01.
 
Kirsti Keppo made the C Finals of the women's 500-yard freestyle relay, finishing fourth in the final heat with a 5:13.20, earning five-points for the women's team total. Karmen Kendoll recorded a career-best time in the 50-yard freestyle, nearly a two-second improvement, posting a 29.84. This was just one of three new bests for Kendoll, who also showed great improvement in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke later in the meet. 
 
The opening relay team ran it back in the 400-yard medley relay, placing ninth of 19 teams, earning 40-points for the team. Their time of 3:30.35 was just ahead of the team from Whittier College. They also competed in the 200-yard medley relay, placing 12^th out of 26 relay teams, finishing two-hundredths of a second behind the team from Simon Fraser. 
 
Sarah Arpag, Kira Etheredge, Kirsti Keppo, and Caley Haydu represented the Wildcats in the women's 400-yard medley relay, placing 19^th of 25 teams in the relay with a time of 4:07.96. The same relay squad returned in the 200-yard medley relay, taking 18^th of 33 relay teams, posting a 1:50.98, just behind the team from Westmont College.
 
Tontchev placed 15^th in the B Final of the 100-yard breaststroke, followed by a career best time in the 200-yard breast, with a 2:11.66, finishing second in the C Final of the 200-yard breast. Jack Sappington also recorded career best times in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, each coming in the preliminaries. Cadogan Wheat broke his career-best in the preliminaries of the 100-yard backstroke, posting a time of 1:01.95.
 
In the 1650-freestyle, Laitinen bested his previous best time by nearly two-seconds, finishing seventh in the event with a 16:29.74 to grab 24-points for the team. Senior Kirsti Keppo also had a strong showing in the 1650 free, taking 11^thplace with a 18:03.63, the highest finish for the women's team thus far in the meet. Chloe Lazaraton also earned points for the team in the event, placing 22^nd with a 18:39.82.
 
Sappington and Velie made it into the A Final of the men's 100-yard IM, finishing fifth and sixth, separated by seven-hundredths of a second, with Sappington leading with a 54.19. The two combined for 49-points for the team, and the men's best finishes. Wheat qualified for the C Final of the race, placing second in the heat, with a 58.77.
 
Sarah Arpag and Kira Etheredge led the women's team in the B Final of the 100-yard IM, finishing in 10^th and 11^th in the race, and second/third of the B Final. Caley Haydu earned team points, qualifying for the C Final, where she finished in 1:05.15. 
 
In the men's 400-yard freestyle relay, Sappington, Velie, Postlewait, and Washburn finished 13^th of 23 in the relay, posting a 3:13.8. Keppo, Haydu, Etheredge, and Arpag placed 17^th in the women's 400-yard free relay, with a time of 3:39.31. 
 
The two Wildcat teams completed the Fall semester portion of the season at the three-day meet, providing strong preparation for the 2026 half of the season, where Linfield hosts three of four final Northwest Conference duals, and look ahead to the Northwest Conference Championships on Friday, February 13^th through Sunday, February 15^th, at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center. 
 
Swimming will take nearly two months away from competition, returning to Northwest Conference action on Friday, January 16, hosting the Whitworth Pirates at the Linfield Pool at 6 p.m.
 
To follow Linfield Wildcats coverage all season long, visit golinfieldwildcats.com. Please consider following Linfield Athletics on Facebook, and @LinfieldSports on Instagram and X.com.