SWIMMING: Lewis & Clark, Whitworth Visit for Conference Duals

THIS WEEK: PLU hosts Lewis & Clark, Friday, 6 p.m.; PLU hosts Whitworth, Saturday, 1 p.m.

PLU HOSTS NWC OPPONENTS: The Lute swimmers are in the midst of a string of four straight home dual meets to close out the regular season. After defeating College of Idaho in non-conference action last Saturday, the Lutes host Lewis & Clark on Friday and Whitworth on Saturday in Northwest Conference duals. In recent year, the Pioneers have had one of the NWC’s strongest women’s teams. This year they are 3-2 in conference action, good for fifth place and one spot behind PLU, which is 3-1 in the conference. Lewis & Clark has defeated the Pacific Lutheran women each of the past two seasons, including a 133-72 score last year, but the Lutes have won 28 of the 31 meets between the women’s teams. On the men’s side, the Lutes have never lost to the Pioneers in 33 duals and they don’t figure to lose this year. PLU is 3-1 in conference action, good for second place, while Lewis & Clark is in sixth place with a 2-3 record. Pacific Lutheran whipped the Pioneers by a 145-45 score last year. Whitworth’s teams present a completely different challenge for the Lutes as the Spokane school boasts arguably the finest program in the Northwest Conference. Last year, for instance, the Whitworth men won the conference title while the women finished a close second to perennial NWC power Puget Sound. The Pirate men and women are both unbeaten in four conference matches this year. In addition, Whitworth has had a history of success against PLU as the Pirates have won 16 of 22 men’s duals and 14 of 22 women’s duals. You would have to go all the way back to the 1997-98 season to find the last time that the PLU men defeated Whitworth (102-98), and back to the 1996-97 to find the previous PLU win over Whitworth in a women’s dual (102-100).

PLU TO HOST NWC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Pacific Lutheran will serve as the host school for this year’s Northwest Conference Swimming Championships scheduled for Friday through Sunday, Feb. 8-10, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

LUTES SWAMP COLLEGE OF IDAHO: Pacific Lutheran made it a sweep of College of Idaho for the third straight year, taking victories in men's and women's non-conference swimming on Saturday afternoon at the PLU pool. The Lute women finished on top, 152-51, and the PLU men were winners, 126-63. Pacific Lutheran has now competed against College of Idaho for three straight years and has come out as victors each time. Despite the fact many of the Lutes were swimming "off" events - those that generally aren't their specialty - the Lutes dominated. "I thought we swam well considering we trained hard all week," PLU head coach Jim Johnson said. On the women's side, PLU won all 11 events, including the 200 medley relay (1:59.77) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:48.94). A trio of Lutes won two events: Jessie Klauder in the 1000 freestyle (11:22.31) and 200 individual medley (2:19.06); Tara Johnson in the 200 freestyle (2:08.91) and 100 freestyle (59.72); and Kasey Dorcas in the 100 butterfly (1:06.14) and 500 freestyle (5:49.70). Other individual event winners for the Lutes were Dayna Blauvelt in the 50 freestyle (27.09), Casey Jackson in the 100 backstroke (1:05.39) and Lacey Wear in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.78). The PLU men won six of the 11 events but benefited from their superior depth. PLU winners included Jay Jones in the 200 freestyle (1:50.77) and 100 backstroke (56.93), John Pedack in the 1000 freestyle (11:11.06), Trevor Olson in the 50 freestyle (22.72), Kyle Maxwell in the 100 butterfly (57.41) and Ben Lilley in the 500 freestyle (5:08.71). Pacific Lutheran's men improved their overall dual meet record to 4-1, while the Lute women are now 4-3 for the season.
THE COACH: Jim Johnson, now in his 30th season as Pacific Lutheran University head coach, has the most wins of any swim coach in Northwest Conference history. He achieved a milestone in his PLU coaching career on Nov. 12, 2005, when the Lutes defeated Pacific, giving Johnson his 300th career victory at PLU. He has a cumulative 325-244 dual meet record at PLU.

PLU SEASON BEST TIMES: http://www.plu.edu/athletics/swim/best%20times.html.

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