By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

TACOMA, WASH. -- Willamette University concluded its dual match swimming schedule with a Northwest Conference meet at Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday, Jan. 26, but the Bearcats were unable to upset the Lutes, as the PLU women claimed a 134-69 victory and the PLU men won 132-62.

The Bearcat women's team finished the dual season with a 2-5 overall record (2-5 in the NWC). Willamette's men went 0-7 in dual meets, all against NWC opponents. Pacific Lutheran's women improved to 6-4 overall (5-2 in the NWC). The PLU men moved to 6-2 overall, 5-2 in the conference.

Willamette won three men's events and two women's events. John Schmidtbauer (Fr., Whittier, CA/Whittier HS) claimed two victories for the Willamette men's team. He won the 100-yard freestyle in 51.62 seconds and took first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.84. James Huang (Jr., Portland, OR/Sunset HS) recorded a win for Willamette in the 100-yard breaststroke, after clocking in at 1:09.62 to win by just over one second.

Brittany Thiemens (Sr., Bellevue, WA/Bellevue HS) and Hanna Connett (Fr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) each registered one win for the Bearcat women. Thiemens outraced five other entrants in the 50-yard freestyle to triumph in 25.96 seconds. She won by 0.63 seconds over Dayna Blauvelt of PLU. Connett finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:37.31.

The Willamette women were defeated by PLU in both relay races, but the Bearcats provided strong opposition. In the 200-yard medley relay, Pacific Lutheran won by recording a time of 2:00.17, just 2.28 seconds in front of the 'Cats. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Lutes edged the Bearcats, as PLU clocked in at 1:47.97. WU's time in the race was 1:49.37.

Laura Brade won two events for PLU. She was victorious in the 400-yard medley relay in 5:03.60 and also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.79. WU's Bridget Sutherland (Sr., Everett, WA/Everett HS) took second behind Brade by just 0.29 seconds in the 100 butterfly. Sutherland's time was 1:04.08.

Jessie Klauder also took first in two events for the Lutes. She won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:06.54 and finished first in the 100-yard freestyle in 57.10 seconds.

In the men's competition, Jay Jones won two races for Pacific Lutheran. He earned the afternoon's fastest time in the 100-yard butterfly at 52.80 seconds. He also placed first in the 500-yard freestyle as he completed the race in 5:18.42.

The Northwest Conference Championships are next on Willamette's schedule. The three-day event is set for Feb. 8-10 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.