SWIMMING: Lutes Use Bye Week to Prepare for Conference Meet

THIS WEEK: The Lutes have a bye week before the conference meet which takes place February 9-11, at Whitman College in Walla Walla.

REGULAR SEASON FINISHED: The men’s squad left the regular season behind them with a impressive 5-2 record in NWC action and 6-2 overall. That was good enough for third place in the conference standings behind 7-0 Whitworth and 6-1 Linfield. The women’s team could not muster up a winning record in the NWC finishing at 3-4, which left them in a tie with Whitman and Linfield for fourth place in the standings. The PLU women finished with a 4-4 overall record.

LUTES SWEEP COYOTES: The Pacific Lutheran swim team took both of the meets in a non-conference dual last week against Albertson College of Idaho. The men’s team knocked off the ‘Yotes 122-48, with the women winning 135-56. The dual meet was the only non-conference meet of the season for the Lutes.

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS: The Lutes were able to win seven of the 11 events, with no Lute swimmer winning more than one event. Andy Stetzler started it for the Lutes with a victory in the 1650 freestyle (17:03.02). He was joined by Kyle Maxwell in the 200 freestyle (1:57.53), Luke Weinbrecht in the 50 freestyle (23.18), David Pedack in the 200 individual medley (2:14.73), Ben Lilley in the 100 butterfly (1:03.70), Jason Hesla in the 100 backstroke (1:01.04) and Adam Michels in the 500 freestyle (5:40.15).

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS: They women topped the men’s victory by winning nine of the 11 events. After Albertson College opened with a victory in the 200 medley relay, Lute swimmers won eight straight events. Tara Johnson had wins in the 1650 freestyle (20:10.23) and the 500 freestyle (5:55.74), Mica Bailey took the 50 freestyle (26.61) and the 100 free (56.52), and Jessie Donovan triumphed in the 200 individual medley (2:16.51) and the 100 backstroke (1:00.21). Other PLU winners included Stacey Crider in the 200 freestyle (2:13.35) and Katie Crawford in the 100 butterfly (1:07.04).

FINAL RANKINGS RELEASED: With the conclusion of the regular season the NWC released the final rankings for each event. Jessie Donovan is the best hope for an individual championship at the conference meet. She currently has the fastest time in the 100 backstroke (59.49) and 200 backstroke (2:11.05). The freshman also has the second fastest time in the 100 individual medley (1:02.66) and the third fastest 200 individual medley (2:16.51). On the men’s side, Andy Stetzler is the top dog after clocking the second fastest times in the conference in the 1000 freestyle (10:07.56) and the 1650 freestyle (17:03.02).

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