Willamette Falls to Whitman in Swimming

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Whitman College remained undefeated in the Northwest Conference in men's and women's swimming as the Missionaries defeated Willamette University on Saturday, Jan. 14 at the WU Natatorium. Whitman's men earned a 122-60 victory. The Missionaries took first place in the women's competition, 116-73.

The Whitman men's team moved to 6-0 overall, 4-0 in the NWC, while the women's team upped its record to 5-1, 4-0 in the NWC.

The Bearcat women's squad fell to 2-4 overall, 0-4 in the NWC. Willamette's men went to 0-5 overall, 0-4 in the conference.

Willamette's Erin Parkinson (So., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS) won the women's 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:08.61. She claimed first place by 19.49 seconds. Charlotte Graham of Whitman placed second in 19:28.10.

Parkinson missed winning a second event when she placed second by just 0.23 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke. Claire Collins won the event for the Missionaries in 1:13.92, while Parkinson was timed at 1:14.15. The win by Collins was not included in the team scoring since Whitman swam exhibition in the breaststroke. Parkinson took third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.97 seconds.

Kersey Bars (Fr., Springfield, OR/Springfield HS) and Kayla Kosaki (Jr., Hilo, HI/Waiakea HS) also registered second place results for the Bearcat women's team. Bars was second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:13.96. Mel Notari of Whitman won the 200 in 2:09.33. Summer Elias (Fr., Elko, NV/Elko HS) of WU placed third in 2:18.49.

Kosaki earned second place in the 100-yard backstroke. Her time was 1:09.43. The winner of the 100 backstroke was Keller Hawkins of Whitman in 1:04.97.

Willamette was second in both of the women's relays. The 200-yard freestyle relay was the closest of the relay races. Whitman won the event in 1:45.23. Willamette followed at 1:49.99, as Lauren Ballinger (Jr., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) made up ground on the anchor leg to outdistance Whitman's "B" team, which finished third in 1:50.55. Whitman competed exhibition in the event.

Swimmers winning two events for the Whitman women's squad were Helen Jenne and Ashley Jay. Jenne was victorious in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.03 seconds and in the 100-yard freestyle in 56.13 seconds. Jay won the 400-yard individual medley by completing the race in 5:03.24 and took first place in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:30.31.

Freshmen Zander Le Bel (Dallas, TX/Richardson HS) and Sean Piper (Normandy Park, WA/John F. Kennedy HS) of Willamette each took second place in two events for the Bearcat men's team.

Le Bel was second in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a result of 18:50.05. First place went to Galen Sollom-Brotherton of the Missionaries, who recorded a time of 17:35.90. Le Bel also was second in the 500-yard freestyle, as he logged a time of 5:27.13 to trail only Chris Bendix of Whitman, who won the race in 5:04.87. Ian McGahan (Jr., Tacoma, WA/Stadium HS) of WU was third in the 500 to give the Bearcats a 2-3 finish.

Piper achieved second in the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. In the 400 I.M., Bendix was first in 4:29.38, with Piper finishing next in 4:34.14. In the 100 backstroke, Kevin O'Leary of Whitman won the race with a time of 56.53 seconds, while Piper finished in 57.25 seconds.

The Bearcats took second place in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay. In the medley relay, Whitman clocked in at 1:41.41 and Willamette was timed at 1:51.25. The Missionaries won the 200 free relay in 1:30.79, while the Bearcats concluded the race in 1:37.64. Whitman competed exhibition in the free relay.

Whitman received two wins apiece from Bendix and Karl Mering on the men's team. Bendix prevailed in the 400-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle. Mering placed first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:44.83 and was first in the 100-yard freestyle in 47.85 seconds.

Willamette's next meet is set for Friday, Jan. 20 at the WU Natatorium against NWC rival Pacific University. The action is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. (PST).