Guffey Earns 7th Place in 100 Freestyle at NWC Championships

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

FEDERAL WAY, WASH. -- Alex Guffey (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of Willamette University placed seventh in the championship finals of the men's 100-yard freestyle during the last session of the 2013 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships on Sunday evening, Feb. 10 at the King County Aquatic Center.

Guffey's time in the finals of the 100-yard freestyle was 47.76 seconds. The event was won by Karl Mering from Whitman College, who set an NWC Championship record while earning an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 45.46 seconds. It was Mering's second straight NWC title in the 100 freestyle.

Annette Marinello (Fr., Corvallis, OR/Philomath HS) also competed in a championship final for the Bearcats on Sunday, as she took eighth place in women's 200-yard breaststroke.

Marinello's time in the finals of the 200 breaststroke was 2:29.27. Earlier in the day, she set a Willamette record in the prelims at 2:28.67, breaking the previous record of 2:29.92, set by Becca Fischer in 2005.

Tracy Wormwood from the University of Puget Sound won the women's 200 breaststroke for the fourth year in a row. Her winning time on Sunday was 2:19.42, as she earned an NCAA "B" qualifying result.

In addition, Zander Le Bel (So., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS) placed eighth in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. His time was 17:19.05 in the fastest heat. Alex Burkhart (So., Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos HS) achieved a time of 17:24.30 during an earlier heat, as he lowered his seed time by 1:31.38 to finish 10th overall.

Standings in the 1,650 freestyle was determined in heats against time, without prelims and finals.

Erin Parkinson (Jr., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS) placed 12th and Hope Nelson (So., Providence, RI/South Kingstown HS) was 15th in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle. Parkinson was timed at 18:49.73, while Nelson attained a time of 19:14.98.

Several Bearcats competed in consolation finals Sunday night.

In the men's 200-yard breaststroke, Kulananalu Tarnas (Fr., Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) placed 13th overall and Chris Whitehead (Jr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) finished 14th. Tarnas earned a time of 2:17.60 in the consolation final, while Whitehead was timed at 2:19.30.

Andrew Lum (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) swam in the men's 200-yard butterfly consolation final and took 14th place overall with a time of 2:01.09.

Kayla Kosaki (Sr., Hilo, HI/Waiakea HS), the only senior on the women's team, took 15th place overall in the women's 200-yard butterfly. She recorded a time of 2:21.68.

Willamette received a 15th-place finish from Nelson (So., Providence, RI/South Kingstown HS), who earned a time of 55.89 seconds in the consolation finals of the 100-yard freestyle. She was 0.64 out of 11th place.

The final women's team standings were: Whitworth University 651 points, Puget Sound 457, Whitman 453, Pacific Lutheran University 431.5, Pacific University in 384.5, Lewis & Clark College 335, Linfield College 307 and Willamette 165.

Final men's team scores were: Whitworth 724.5 points, Whitman 627.5, Pacific Lutheran 481, Puget Sound 454, Pacific 317, Linfield 210, Lewis & Clark 186, and Willamette 183.

Willamette entered the last men's event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing Lewis & Clark by five points in the standings. In the relay, the Bearcats placed seventh in 3:19.52 and L&C was eighth in 3:23.06, but Willamette gained just two points in the scoring totals, as the Pioneers held off WU by three points.

Swimming for WU in the men's relay were Nick Barton (Fr., Oregon City, OR/Clackamas HS), Aran Johnson (So., Seattle, WA/Garfield HS), Le Bel and Guffey.

During the dual match season, the Bearcats defeated Lewis & Clark in the 400 free relay to rally for a 101-97 victory.

Women's Competition Highlights

(See scores above)

The Whitworth women returned to the top of the victory stand after last winning NWC championships in 2010 and 2011. The womens team title was never really in doubt from the opening day as the Pirates piled up a total of 11 event victories. In winning its third team title in the last four years, Whitworth dethroned defending champion Puget Sound.

Whitworths Katherine Turner, who won three events, was named the Outstanding Female Swimmer, and Pacific Lutherans Matt Sellman was selected by his peers as Womens Coach of the Year.

With a victory in the 1,650 freestyle, Whitworths Bridget Louis won her second event of the 2013 championships. Louis was in a battle with defending champion Amanda Clark from Pacific for much of the race, but gradually pulled away and won with a time of 17:33.13, compared to Clarks 17:40.65.

Whitworths Katherine Duvall won the womens 200 backstroke for the third consecutive year with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:04.35. Duvall added the 200 backstroke title after winning the 500 freestyle on Friday and the 100 backstroke on Saturday.

Rachel Cazden was Lewis & Clarks only event winner, taking the womens 100 freestyle with a time of 52.75, beating Katie Porter from Pacific by .06.

Puget Sound won three womens events throughout the course of the meet, and two came from one of the conferences best-ever in the breaststroke. Tracy Wormwood, who won her fourth consecutive 100 breaststroke title on Saturday night, came back on Sunday evening to take her fourth straight 200 breaststroke championship with a winning time of 2:19.42.

In the very next event, Puget Sounds Melissa Norrish won her second straight title in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:09.40.

Whitworths women capped off the meet with the programs 11th event victory, taking the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:34.01. Team members were Kori Carpenter, Nicole Lecoq, Hannah Norris and Alisa Stang.

Men's Competition Highlights on Sunday

(See scores above)

Whitworth won its 11th consecutive mens team title. Despite winning only one out of 18 events, the Pirates continued a tradition of team titles that was started in 2003.

Whitmans men ended up winning 10 of the 18 events, Puget Sound had three wins, Pacific and Pacific Lutheran two each, and Whitworth one.

The individual awards reflected Whitmans strong showing as Karl Mering received the Outstanding Male Swimmer award for his three victories, and Jennifer Blomme earned the vote of her colleagues as the Mens Coach of the Year.

Galen Sollom-Brotherton from Whitman, the outstanding swimmer during the 2012 championship meet, won his third event in as many nights when he opened the mens Sunday evening session with a victory in the 1650 freestyle. Sollom-Brothertons time of 15:47.53 made the NCAA meet provisional cut. Whitworths Brandon Smith and PLUs Justin Murrell, second and third in the event, also made the provisional cut.

Puget Sounds second event victory in the championship meet came from Teale Kitson, who earned an NCAA provisional time of 1:52.33 to win the men's 200 backstroke.

Karl Mering set a new Northwest Conference meet record in the 100 freestyle, winning his third event of the 2013 championships with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 45.46. The former NWC meet record was 45.76 set by Whitworths Michael Woodward in 2009.

Michael Hargitt from Pacific won his second event of these championships, taking the 200 breaststroke in 2:05.72, an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Whitmans Paul Chang placed second, also with an NCAA provisional qualifier.

Derek Frenzel, the 200 freestyle winner on Saturday, won his third straight 200 butterfly championship on Sunday, as he broke his own meet record with a time of 1:49.95. That mark was also an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Division III national meet.

Wesley Tatum from Whitworth and Aleksander Jeremikj from Puget Sound recorded NCAA provisional times in finishing second and third, respectively, in the 200 freestyle.

Whitman capped its outstanding meet with a victory in the mens 400 freestyle relay, with the team of Sam Starr, Chang, Sollom-Brotherton and Mering combining to win in 3:06.10.