Lutes Defeat Bearcats in Men's and Women's Swimming

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

PARKLAND, WASH. -- Pacific Lutheran University remained undefeated in men's and women's swimming as the Lutes defeated the Willamette University Bearcats on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Lute women's team won 164-40 and the PLU men's team gained a 148-57 victory.

Overall, PLU won all 11 women's events and 10 men's events. Alika Masei (Fr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) of Willamette won the men's 100-yard backstroke and the Bearcats took second place in many events.

Both of Pacific Lutheran's teams improved to 5-0 on the season, 4-0 in the Northwest Conference. The Willamette teams are both 0-4 overall and 0-4 in the NWC after playing the top four teams from last year's NWC Championships.

Masei registered a time of 55.15 seconds to win the 100-yard backstroke. he won by 0.28 over Corban Elliott of PLU, who took second place in 55.43 seconds.

In addition to winning the 100 back, Masei finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke. His time was 1:14.39. Kina Ackerman won the 100 breast for the Lutes in 1:11.14.

Alex Guffey (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of WU placed second in the men's 200-yard freestyle and the men's 100-yard freestyle.

Brian Ruggles from PLU won both of those races. In the 200 free, Ruggles took first in 1:49.90 and Guffey followed at 1:50.31. In the 200 free, Ruggles was timed at 48.67 seconds and Guffey earned a time of 49.70 seconds.

Shelby Merrill (Fr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) earned second place for the Bearcats in the men's 1000-yard freestyle. Hunter Cosgrove of PLU won the event in 10:28.09. Merrill's time for second place was 10:43.04, as he outlasted Alex Baker of PLU, who took third in 10:45.06.

The Willamette men placed second in both relays. PLU won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:41.58, while the Bearcats concluded the race in 1:43.067. The 200-yard freestyle relay was won by the Lutes in 1:33.02, with Willamette following in 1:36.24.

Swimming for WU on the 200-yard medley relay were Masei, Chris Whitehead (Sr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS), Andrew Lum (So., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) and Guffey.

The Bearcats were represented in the 200-yard freestyle relay by Merrill, Colin Sievers (So., Lynnwood, WA/Bishop Blanchet HS) , Aran Johnson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Garfield HS) and Zander Le Bel (Jr., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS).

For the WU women's team, Hope Nelson (Sr., Providence, RI/South Kingstown HS) was second in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 11:45.47 and placed second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:40.95. Hanna Armstrong from Pacific Lutheran won the 1,000 freestyle in 11:24.28, while Darcie Booth of the Lutes won the 500 freestyle at 5:36.56.

Erin Parkinson (Sr., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS) of WU attained second place in the women's 100-yard breaststroke. She trailed only Tina Ackerman of PLU, who took first place in 1:11.14. Parkinson's time was 1:14.39.

In the women's 50-yard freestyle, Malia Santos (So., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) from Willamette narrowly missed second place. Armstrong from PLU won the sprint in 25.88 seconds to go along with her win in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Toni Castillo of PLU was second at 26.15 and Santos was third at 26.31.

The Lutes achieved the top two places in both of the women's relays, but Willamette barely missed second place with a solid swim in the 200-yard freestyle relay. PLU took first place in 1:42.60 and also gained second place in 1:45.08. WU finished third in 1:46.35, just 0.27 out of second place.

Willamette will play a non-conference dual meet at Pacific University on Saturday, Nov. 23. The full format, with 100-yard and 200-yard events in each stroke, will be used. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (PST) in Forest Grove, Ore.