Willamette Falls to Whitworth in Men's and Women's Swimming

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

SPOKANE, WASH. -- Whitworth University defeated Willamette University in men's and women's swimming on Friday, Nov. 2, as the Pirates and the Bearcats began the dual match season. Whitworth's teams are now 1-0 on the season, 1-0 in the Northwest Conference, while Willamette's teams are 0-1 overall, 0-1 in the NWC.

The Whitworth men won their 10th consecutive NWC title this past spring, while the Pirate women's team won NWC titles in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before finishing second behind the University of Puget Sound in 2011-12.

On Friday, each Whitworth team won all nine individual events and both relays to sweep the first place finishes. The Whitworth men downed the Bearcats, 167-37, while the Pirate women's team outscored Willamette, 169-34.

Alex Guffey (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) on the Willamette men's team took second place in the 200-yard freestyle with a solid performance. Mitchell Beck won the race in 1:47.56. Guffey finished in 1:48.16, just 0.60 behind Mitchell.

The Willamette women's 200-yard freestyle relay team also earned second place. Whitworth won the event in 1:44.93, while the Bearcats followed at 1:49.64. The Pirates' second relay team in the race placed third in 1:54.23.

Hope Nelson (So., Providence, RI/South Kingstown HS), Kersey Bars (So., Springfield, OR/Springfield HS), Jessica Beach (Fr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) and Malia Santos (Fr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) competed for Willamette on the relay.

Nelson and Santos each added a third place finish in an individual event. Nelson was third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:51.17. Santos placed third in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:05.25. Katherine Duvall of Whitworth won the 500 free in 5:24.79 and Samantha Strong took first in the 100 fly in 1:00.14.

Also recording a third place result for the Willamette women's team was Michaela Zuber (Fr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) in the 100-yard backstroke. Nicole Lecoq of Whitworth won the race in 1:00.99, while the Pirates' Kori Carpenter was second at 1:05.77. Zuber's time in third place was 1:06.19.

Three members of the Willamette men's squad earned third place in an individual race.

Sean Piper (So, Normandy Park, WA/John F. Kennedy HS) achieved third place in the 100-yard backstroke by completing the race in 58:64. seconds. Anthony Fish of Whitworth won the event in 56.20 seconds.

Andrew Lum (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) placed third in the men's 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.80. Aaron Vaccaro from Whitworth garnered first place in 52.31 seconds. Zander Le Bel (So., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS) of Willamette was third in the 1000-yard freestyle in 11:29.44. Oliver Durand won the event for the Pirates in 10:04.19.

Willamette will take on Whitman College in men's and women's swimming on Saturday, Nov. 3. The action is scheduled to get underway in Walla Walla, Wash., at 1 p.m. (PDT).