Feb. 10, 2008

Whitworth Sweeps Northwest Conference Swimming Titles

Third Day Final Results
Complete Meet Results

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – One streak continued and another came to an end as the Whitworth University Pirates swept the men’s and women’s team titles at the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships that concluded Sunday at the King County Aquatic Center.

On the women’s side, Puget Sound’s incredible 11-year dominance at the top of the Northwest Conference heap came to an end as Whitworth used 10 event victories and outstanding depth to out-score the Loggers, 793-692. The Pirates entered the final evening of competition with a 48-point advantage and added to that margin during the final six events. Rounding out the team scores were Whitman with 411, Lewis & Clark with 392, Willamette with 258, Linfield with 249, Pacific Lutheran with 247 and Pacific with 130.

The Whitworth men won only three of the 18 events, but they still garnered their sixth straight championship, scoring 703.5 points to pull away from Puget Sound, which finished second with 601 points. Linfield placed third with 489, followed by Whitman with 443.5, Pacific Lutheran with 402, Lewis & Clark with 206, Willamette with 159 and Pacific with 147.

Whitworth’s Steve Schadt earned NWC Women’s Coach of the Year honors, while Puget Sound’s Chris Myhre received the NWC Men’s Coach of the Year recognition from his peers.

For the second straight year, Whitworth’s Natalie Turner won three events to earn recognition as Outstanding Women’s Swimmer of the Meet. She got things off to a good start for the Pirates with a victory in the 1650 freestyle, pulling away from Puget Sound’s Sarah Mirick to win by almost 13 seconds in a conference meet record time of 17:28.98.

The women’s 200 backstroke featured defending champion Nancy Alexander from Whitman, who came into the final with the third best preliminary time. Alexander took the lead about 120 yards into the race and then held off a charge by Whitworth’s Marjorie Turner. Alexander’s winning time was 2:09.99, just .04 ahead of Turner. Puget Sound’s Katie Wilson, who had the eighth-best qualifying time going into the final, finished third.

As they did in Friday’s 50 freestyle final, Whitworth teammates Brittany Gresset and Ashley Lecoq went head-to-head in the 100 freestyle, and for the second time in as many races it was Gresset who won the event in a time of 54.10. The win was the second straight in the 100 freestyle for the Whitworth junior.

Puget Sound senior Amy Polansky continued her dominance in the women’s breaststroke events, winning the 200-yard event for the third straight year with a time of 2:27.65, more than six seconds faster than runner-up Kelly Reynolds from Whitworth. On Saturday, Polansky won her third consecutive 100 breaststroke title.

As with Polansky in the breaststroke, Whitworth’s Samantha Kephart showed that she is virtually untouchable in the butterfly. The NCAA Division III record holder, Kephart won her fourth consecutive 200 fly championship in a time of 2:05.14. She has now swept four straight titles in both the 100 and 200 butterfly events.

Fittingly, the final meet’s final event, the 400 freestyle relay, went to Whitworth with a meet record time of 3:33.97.

The Whitworth men entered Sunday’s final session with an 83.5-point lead and they maintained that margin throughout the evening. David Dolphay got the Pirates off to a good start, winning the 1650 freestyle for the third straight year in a time of 16:19.44

The men’s 200 backstroke featured a battle between defending champion Kevin Caple from Linfield and Jackson Kowalski from Puget Sound. In Saturday’s 100 backstroke final, Caple beat Kowalski, who had been the defending champion. Kowalski returned the favor, recording a 1:54.02 to beat Caple by 1.16 seconds.

Linfield’s Dom Rieniets wrapped up the Outstanding Men’s Swimmer of the Meet award with a victory in the 100 freestyle final. Rieniets, who won the event in a meet record time of 46.08, added to his victories in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. Rieniets was one of three swimmers to share Outstanding Swimmer recognition at the 2007 meet, but he takes that honor by himself this year.

In the men’s 200 breaststroke, Puget Sound junior Paul Hughes made it a double in the breaststroke events, clocking 2:05.94 to beat defending champion Bryan Clarke from Whitworth. Hughes regained the event title that he first won in 2006.

Linfield’s Yusuke Kobayashi came into the men’s 200 butterfly as the defending champion, but it was Pacific Lutheran freshman Jay Jones who raced to the victory in a time of 1:56.61, beating Kobayashi by 1.38 seconds. The victory by Jones was PLU’s first NWC men’s individual event title since Mike Simmons won the 100 breaststroke in 1999.

The meet’s final event, the men’s 400 freestyle relay, may have been the most exciting as Linfield anchor swimmer Caple overcame the Whitworth swimmer to lead the Wildcats to the victory in a time of 3:10.04.

LUTE NOTES: Jay Jones moved into eighth on PLU's all-time list with his winning performance in the 200 butterfly. Jones improved on his preliminary time by more than four seconds. Luke Thomas placed sixth in the men's 200 butterfly (2:09.69). Andy Stetzler placed third in the 1650 freestyle in 16:26.69, a time that ranks him fifth on the all-time PLU list. Stetzler swam in the championship final in three events (200, 500 and 1650 freestyles) for the third straight year. Ben Lilley joined Stetzler on the 1650 freestyle podium, placing fifth (17:25.34). Other men's highlights from Sunday included Alex Limoges placing sixth in the 200 backstroke (2:01.41). On the women's side, senior captain Tara Johnson finished her career with a great race in the 1650 freestyle, placing seventh in a time of 19:02.85. Jessie Klauder had the top event finish for the PLU women in the 200 breaststroke, placing third (2:36.07) after coming into the final with the seventh best preliminary time. Lacey Wear also swam in the 200 breaststroke championship final and placed eighth (2:39.30). Casey Jackson finished seventh in the 200 backstroke (2:15.66).

- NWC -