Bearcat Women Win Final Race to Down College of Idaho; Men Rout Yotes

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Holding a slim 5-point lead entering the final event on Saturday, Jan. 12, the Willamette University women's swimming team needed a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay in order to defeat the College of Idaho for the Bearcats' second dual meet victory of the season.

The Bearcats achieved their goal, as Willamette led by a narrow margin throughout the race before holding off the Lady Yotes. Willamette earned a winning time of 1:47.25 in the relay, just 0.33 in front of the College of Idaho, which finished second at 1:47.58. Willamette's women won the dual meet 121-111.

In the men's competition, Willamette surged out to a big lead on its way to a 97-52 triumph over the Yotes. Willamette swam exhibition in five of the final six events. The men's team from the College of Idaho was without several of its swimmers and competed with just four athletes.

Willamette's women improved to 2-5 on the season, while the College of Idaho women's team fell to 6-4. The Bearcat men's squad moved to 2-5 overall, with the C of I men's team dropping to 1-6.

The first four women's events were won by Willamette, but C of I won the next five events. Annie Marinello (Fr., Corvallis, OR/Philomath HS) of Willamette prevailed in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.22 to end the string of wins by the Lady Yotes.

In the next two events, Madeline Sato won the 500-freestyle for the College of Idaho in 5:42.34 and Kirby Roberts provided the Lady Yotes with a win in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:04.33. After the pair of victories for C of I, Willamette owned a precarious 99-98 lead.

Marinello, who took first place in three individuals events and competed on two winning relays for WU, kept the Bearcats in front with a solid win in the next-to-last event, 200-yard individual medley, with a time of 2:18.26. Even so, the Bearcats needed to win the 200-yard freestyle relay to prevent the Lady Yotes from rallying for the overall victory.

Earlier in the meet, Marinello registered her first individual win in the 200-yard freestyle. She recorded a time of 2:02.74, while Sato finished second for C of I in 2:09.40. Marinello claimed even larger margins of victory in the 200 breaststroke (12.26 seconds) and the 200 I.M. (14.22 seconds).

Marinello swam the second leg on WU's 200-yard medley relay team, which took first place in 1:59.84. Also swimming on the relay were Michaela Zuber (Fr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS), Malia Santos (Fr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) and Erin Parkinson (Jr., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS). C of I finished second with a time of 2:04.29.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, which decided the team victory, Willamette's team featured Hope Nelson (So., Providence, RI/South Kingstown HS), Kayla Kosaki (Sr., Hilo, HI/Waiakea HS), Parkinson and Santos. Although WU held a lead at the end of each leg, the key portion of the race may have been provided by Parkinson on the third leg.

Parkinson increased the Bearcats' lead to nearly a full body length at one point. The margin was only slightly less when Santos took over for the final leg, but it was enough of a lead for Santos to hold off Selena Warburton of the Lady Yotes. Warburton won three individual events for C of I, but couldn't quite catch Santos in the decisive race.

In addition to the three wins by Marinello, the Bearcats also received a victory from Nelson in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 19:58.75 and from Zuber in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:04.84.

For College of Idaho, Warburton won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:11.96, took first place in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.64 seconds and finished first in the 100-yard freestyle in 57.38 seconds. She edged out Nelson of Willamette in 50 free and the 100 free, with Nelson earning times of 27.12 seconds and 58.62 seconds, respectively.

Alex Guffey (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) from the Willamette men's team won two events for the Bearcats. He took first place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.22 seconds. He won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:01.93 seconds.

Officially winning one event for WU were Sean Piper (So, Normandy Park, WA/John F. Kennedy HS) in the 100-yard backstroke at 57.20 seconds, Chris Whitehead (Jr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.59, Andrew Lum (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:11.53 and Kulananalu Tarnas (Fr., Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.68 seconds.

While swimming exhibition, Piper also recorded the fastest time in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard individual medley, while Whitehead registered the top time swimming exhibition in the 200-yard breaststroke.

The College of Idaho men's team received wins from Brennan Baker in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 18:08.45 and from Lucas Hill in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.46. Tyler Morgan won the 100-yard butterfly for C of I with a time of 56.33 seconds, which was faster than the WU swimmers who were competing exhibition in that event.

Willamette prevailed in the men's 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:45.20. Swimming on the relay were Piper, Whitehead, Lum and Guffey. College of Idaho won the men's 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:36.60. Willamette's team, competing exhibition, finished just over two seconds later.

The Bearcats will return to action on Friday, Jan. 18 in a Northwest Conference meet at Pacific University. Meet time in Forest Grove, Ore., is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PST). Willamette will host Lewis & Clark College on Saturday, Jan. 19 at the WU Natatorium, starting at 1 p.m. (PST).