Feb. 10, 2007

Linfield Men Stay in Front, UPS Women Take Over First

Day Two Results

(Courtesy Whitman Sports Information Office)

Jason Hesla

Jessie Donovan

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran men are in fourth place and the Lute women in sixth after the second of three days of the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships in the Paul and Louise Harvey Pool on the Whitman College campus.

Senior Jason Hesla had top-eight finishes in two events on Saturday night. He placed fifth in the 400 individual medley in a time of 4:24.63, improving his preliminary time by more than four seconds, best of the eight finalists. He also placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke, clocking 1:02.28. Freshman Jessie Donovan led the PLU women, placing second in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:00.43.

Other top eight finishers for the Lute men on Saturday included freshman Matt Kim placing eighth in the 100 butterfly in a time of 55.49, and sophomore Andy Stetzler finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:48.21. On the women's side, freshman Mica Bailey placed seventh in the 100 butterfly, clocking 1:01.73. That time was a 1.3-second improvement over her mark in the prelims.

Linfield College stayed on top in the men’s team scoring, but it was the University of Puget Sound taking over first place in the women’s race. The NWC championship meet concludes Sunday with preliminaries set for 10 a.m. and finals starting at 5 p.m.

The Puget Sound women’s team, the 10-time defending champion, trailed Whitworth College by 13 points after Friday’s first day of racing. But with Amy Polansky winning the 100-yard breaststroke for a second consecutive year, the Logger women vaulted into first place Saturday with 476 points. Polansky also contributed to a Puget Sound victory in the 200-yard medley relay.

The Whitworth women, in first place as a team after Friday’s events, slipped into second with 424 points. Whitworth’s Samantha Kephart won the 100-yard butterfly for a third consecutive year, and teammate Natalie Turner set a new NWC record in winning the 200-yard freestyle. Kephart and Turner also helped the Pirates win the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Lewis & Clark was in third place in the women's team scoring with 288 points. Whitman is fourth with 269 and Linfield fifth with 267. Other point totals on the women's side: Pacific Lutheran 158, Willamette 139 and Pacific 95.

The Linfield men’s squad finished Saturday’s events with 413 points. Whitworth and Puget Sound were close behind with 396 and 393 points, respectively. Pacific Lutheran and Whitman are tied for fourth in the men's scoring with 247 points each. Rounding out the men's field are Willamette 189, Lewis & Clark 165 and Pacific 22.

Linfield got victories Saturday from Kevin Caple in the 400-yard individual medley and Dom Rieniets in the 100-yard butterfly. With both Caple and Rieniets swimming a leg, the Wildcats were also victorious in the men’s 800-yard freestyle relay.

Whitworth’s David Dolphay defended his title in the 200-yard freestyle, while Puget Sound stayed close with victories from Jackson Kowalski in the 100-yard backstroke and Paul Hughes in the 100-yard breaststroke. Hughes, who won his event for a second consecutive year, also was part of Puget Sound’s triumph in the 200-yard medley relay.

Other event winners in the women’s meet Saturday were Lewis & Clark’s Lindsay Nixon in the 400-yard individual medley and Linfield’s Rose Hollingsworth in the 100-yard backstroke. Nixon won her event for a second straight year.

- NWC -