Whitworth Sweeps Willamette in Spokane

Pirates Swim Well in Home Meet

January 17, 2009 12:08 AM

SPOKANE, WASH. -- The Whitworth University swimming teams swept a Northwest Conference dual meet from Willamette University on Friday, Jan. 16 at the Whitworth Aquatic Center. The Pirates won the men's competition, 149-47, and were victorious in the women's match-up, 171-21.

COMPLETE RESULTS

Men
Whitworth University 149
Willamette University 47

Women
Whitworth University 171
Willamette University 21

Three men each won two events for Whitworth. Woodward led the way by winning the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle. His winning time in the 500 free was 4:43.80, the fastest time in the NWC this season. He won the 200 free in 1:44.52.

Also winning three events for the Pirate men were Rory Buck and Quinton Darling. Buck took first in the 100-yard butterfly in 53.23 seconds and the 100-yard breaststroke in 59.05 seconds. Darling was victorious in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:18.31. He also won the 100-yard backstroke in 59.02 seconds.

Two Pirates each recorded a pair of victories for the Whitworth women's team. Ashley Lecoq won the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.35) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.14 seconds). Jennifer Benson took first place in the 50-yard freestyle (25.70 seconds) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.91).

Natalie Turner of Whitworth recorded an NWC-best time of 10:33.84 in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Her time was nearly 20 seconds faster than the previous top time in the conference this season.

For the Willamette women, Gwen Schulze (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS/Austin College) took second in the 100-yard butterfly behind Lecoq. Schulze's time was 1:02.93. Laura Coddington (Fr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) finished second in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:06.28, while Viktoriya Beliy (So., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) was third in 1:07.74.

Michael McGeehan (Fr., Moscow, ID/Moscow HS) put up a strong battle against Kyle Homad in the men's 100-yard freestyle, before taking second place. Homad won the race in 51.08 seconds for a margin of victory of 0.38. McGeehan clocked in with a time of 51:46 seconds.

The Bearcat men are 1-2 on the season (1-2 NWC), while the WU women are 1-3 overall (0-3 NWC). Willamette will swim against Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., on Saturday, Jan. 17. Meet time is set for 1 p.m. (PST).

For More Information:
Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110