CLAREMONT, Calif.  During perhaps the heaviest training segment of its season, Whitman's men's and women's swim teams jumped into the Matt M. Axelrood Pool on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Wednesday afternoon to square off against the host institution's ninth-ranked men and 17th-ranked women.

The top-10 Stags scored a 216-46 victory over the Blues men, while the CMS Athenas won 200-61 against the Whitman women.

The Whitman program takes its annual training trip in early January, often peaking its training volume in preparation for a downslide in yardage toward the taper before the Northwest Conference championship.

Wednesday's meet hit at likely the 'tired-est' time of the season for the Blues. But the times in the pool were less important than regaining the competitive spirit. Whitman last competed at the Logger Invitational on Dec. 1-3, 2017, and the meet at CMS served as a 'getting the feet wet' opportunity for a Blues squad that hosts University of Puget Sound on Friday, Jan. 19 in Walla Walla, Washington.

Tara Stahlecker stood out for the women's team at Claremont as the senior scored second places in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles with times of 55.69 seconds and 2 minutes, 2.23 seconds, respectively.

The 100 results were the highest of the afternoon for the women as Zoë Hill (third place, 56.56 sec.) and Gaby Thomas (fourth, 56.70) also finished in scoring positions.

Hill was the top finisher for Whitman in the 50 free with a second-place time of 25.19 seconds, and Mara Selznick added a second in the 200 backstroke (2:15.54).

Fisher Munro and Colin Aslett challenged for wins in separate events for the Whitman men.

Munro settled for second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.97, and a few events later Aslett took second in the 200 back (2:02.62).

Clark Sun raced to a third-place finish in the 200 free and Jared Sears added a third in the 50 free.

"We knew CMS's depth would be impressive today, and it was," said Whitman head coach Jennifer Blomme. "We have been working really hard all week and people are pretty beat up, so times weren't nearly as much of a focus today as were racing and competition details.

"I was pretty happy with the team's attitude as exhausted as I know they are, and the energy and focus were good, too."

The UPS meet on the 19th marks the first of the Blues' final three meets of the regular season. Pacific Lutheran University is at Whitman the following day, and the regular season concludes with a trip to Whitworth University on Saturday, Jan. 27.

The NWC Championship Meet is scheduled for Feb. 9-11 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.