Wide World of Kitsap Sports

Erynne Lee hasn’t won any tournaments in her freshman year at UCLA.
That doesn’t mean the golfer from Silverdale hasn’t found success for the top-ranked Bruins. In fact, she’s been one of the team’s most consistent players.

Following her third-place finish at last week’s Blue Wave Invitational in Tarzana, Calif., Lee now has placed third in her last three collegiate tournaments. She also took third at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge and the Arizona Wildcat Invitational in February.

Lee has been UCLA’s top finisher in four of the team’s past five tournaments.

The University of Washington volleyball team, which includes Bainbridge High product Kelcey Dunaway, will be featured on UWTV in eight live broadcasts on Ch. 27.

The first match to be televised is Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. against the USC Trojans. 

Dunaway, a junior, is a two-year letter winner and is coming off her most successful season at UW. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker has developed into a formidable server, dishing up 25 aces as a sophomore — second-most on the team. She also had a team-high four aces in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Here’s the TV schedule: 

Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. vs. USC 

Saturday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. vs. UCLA 

Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Oregon 

Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. vs. Colorado 

Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. vs. Utah 

Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. vs. Arizona State 

Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. vs. California 

Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. vs. Washington State

California senior Nathan Adrian earned yet another honor on Thursday as he was named the Pac-10 co-swimmer of the year along with Stanford’s Austin Staab by commissioner Larry Scott.

Adrian, a Bremerton native, won the award in 2009.

Adrian won his second 50-yard freestyle title at the NCAA swimming and diving championships last month in an American record time of 18.66 seconds. He also won his third 100 free championship in 41.10 and anchored the Bears’ 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay and 400 free relay wins.

Adrian was also named the championship swimmer of the meet at the NCAAs and named the Pac-10 winter-scholar athlete of the year.

Cal coach David Durden was named the Pac-10 coach of the year.

Nathan Adrian has 21 percent of the votes so far in an online poll by the United States Olympic Committee for male athlete of the month.

Adrian, a Bremerton native, helped the University of California to its first NCAA men’s swimming and diving championship last month in Minneapolis. Adrian won his second 50-yard freestyle and his third straight 100-yard free titles. He also set an American record in the 50 free.

Here’s the link to the online poll.

A regular feature in the swimming world — is Bob Schaller’s 20 Question Tuesday — the former swimnetwork.com spotlight on national team swimmers. Swimnetwork.com recently merged with USA Swimming.com, and you can still read Mike Gustafson’s articles there.

Schaller, who has featured Bremerton Olympic sisters Tara and Dana Kirk as well as Bainbridge’s Emily Silver in the past,  spoke with Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian.

Adrian, as any of you who read this blog regularly knows the Cal senior helped the Bears to their first NCAA swimming & diving championship last weekend. He also won the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and ended his collegiate career with 12 NCAA titles.

Schaller is a great interviewer, and was able to get Nathan to go in-depth on several questions.

Here’s an excerpt:

Bob: How much do your teammates mean to you? It seems like a freakishly close-knit group, even a family. Is that correct?
Nathan: It’s pretty wild to be part of a team like this. I never fully understood it until about last year when I realized what a group of people we had. After the (last) relay (this year), some of the guys had tears in our eyes. It’s unbelievable to think that just a few years ago I walked onto Cal’s pool deck as a kid, with no idea of what a swim team really could be. We showed ourselves with these last couple of years what a team can be. It’s fun to look back on all the memories, whether it was PAC 10s or driving to the USC meet – we drive to USC, we don’t fly. And that’s a long bus ride going through Grapevine. I think about our training camps at the (Olympic Training Center) in Colorado Springs, where you are sort of stuck in a dungeon for two weeks with just the guys, the pool and the cafeteria. It’s a special group.

You can read the full feature here.

California senior Nathan Adrian was named a Pac-10 scholar-athlete of the year for swimming on Monday.

Adrian, a Bremerton native, is a public health major with a 3.75 grade point average and is one of six conference athletes who earned recognition for the 2010-11 winter season.

Adrian earned 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine All-Academic All-America honors and first-team Pac-10 All-Academic status from 2009-10. He also earned CoSIDA District 8 All-Academic status in 2009.

In the pool, Adrian helped the Bears win their first NCAA Division I swimming and diving championship over the weekend. Adrian won the 50-yard freestyle, 100 free and three relay titles. He also set American record in the 50 free in 18.66 seconds.

Adrian won 12 NCAA championships for Cal, including relays and set two American records, both in the 50 free during his collegiate career.

Here’s a video I found of Nathan Adrian following the NCAA swimming finals from Saturday night. Plus part 1 and part 2 of the 400 free relay from Cal.

Plus, one more from Day 1 when Nathan won the 50 free.

Enjoy.

Cal's Nathan Adrian won the 50-yard freestyle Thursday at the NCAA swimming and diving championships in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler | Star Tribune)

University of California senior Nathan Adrian set an American record and reclaimed the 50-yard freestyle title Thursday evening at the NCAA swimming and diving championships at the University of Minnesota.

The Bremerton native touched the wall in 18.66 seconds, bettering his previous record of 18.71 from 2009 when he also won the NCAA title. It’s the third fastest all-time. 

Runner-up Adam Brown of Auburn University finished in 18.72 while Jimmy Feigen of the University of Texas was third in 18.97. Adrian’s blistering pace in the first 25 yards set the tone as he made the turn at 9.09 and was able to hold off Brown.

In the first event of the night, Cal’s 200 free relay finished second to Stanford, in one minute, 15.26 seconds to 1:15.34. Adrian swam the opening leg, leading off with a solid 18.74. Stanford also set an American record.

Adrian was also a part of Cal’s winning 400 medley relay. Adrian swam the anchor leg in 41.13 seconds as the Bears set a pool record.

Nathan Adrian had the fastest qualifying time for the 50-yard freestyle finals in the morning’s preliminaries at the NCAA swimming and diving championships today at the University of Minnesota.

Adrian, a senior at California and Bremerton native, touched the wall in 18.76 seconds, bettering his previous best time of the season at 18.91. Second seed Adam Brown of Auburn had a time of 18.91.

Adrian also swam the opening leg in Cal’s 200 free relay, which had the fourth fastest time of the day in 1 minute, 16.67. Auburn is the top qualifier in 1:15.50.

The finals are at 5 p.m.

A video of the prelims from Day 1 can be viewed here.

Also, Navy’s Olaf Olson, a Bainbridge High graduate, is diving 10th in the 1-meter springboard event today. An update will be posted when it becomes available.

UPDATE: Olaf finished 32nd after the prelims with a score of 269.90. The top 16 make the finals.

Western Washington University softball player Erika Quint was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week last week.

It’s the second straight honor, and third this season and fourth overall for Quint, a senior from Silverdale (Central Kitsap). 

Quint tossed a shutout, her fourth of the year, as she blanked Simon Fraser, 1-0, on three hits last week. Quint walked two and struck out eight in lowering her GNAC-leading earned run average to 1.29, which is a full run and a half better than anyone else in the conference.

The win gave Quint an 11-0 record, tying a school record for most consecutive victories in a season. She had 112 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched, holding opposing batters to a .174 average while completing nine of 12 starts.

Quint already has seven 10-strikeout games this season, the second-highest total in GNAC history. The record is 10.

Western (17-2) is ranked No. 7 nationally and travels to Central Washington for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.