Bearcat Men, Lewis & Clark Women, Win in Swimming

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

PORTLAND, ORE. -- The Willamette University Bearcats defeated Lewis & Clark College in mens swimming, 112-87, on Saturday, Jan. 18, while the Pioneers won the womens competition, 133-71, at the Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion.

Willamettes men won for the second consecutive day. The Bearcats edged out Pacific University on Friday, 105-95, at the WU Natatorium. Willamette improved to 2-5-1 overall, 2-4 in the NWC. Lewis & Clark dropped to 1-6, 1-5 in the conference.

The L&C womens squad upped its record to 2-5 on the season, 2-4 in the NWC. The Bearcat women fell to 0-8, 0-6 in NWC action.

WU won five men's events, including both relays, while the WU women's team won four events.

Alika Masei (Fr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) set a personal record in all competitions to win the men's 100-yard backstroke in 53.48. The time beat his top times as a high school and club team swimmer as well as his previous times this season at Willamette. He won the event by 6.43 seconds.

Masei led a 1-3-4 finish for the Bearcats. After Masei finished first, Alan Hermanns from L&C took second place in 59.91. Jason Bayang (Fr., Wahiawa, HI/Hoala, School) of WU placed third at 1:01.06 and Josh Bumgarner (Fr., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS) of WU was fourth at 1:02.85.

Willamette's Alex Guffey (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) achieved first place in the men's 200-yard freestyle and supplied the anchor leg on both of the winning relay teams for the Bearcat men's squad.

Guffey's winning time in the 200 free was 1:53.12. The Bearcats took first, third and fourth in the event, with Zander Le Bel (Jr., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS) in third at 1:57.28 and Colin Sievers (So., Lynnwood, WA/Bishop Blanchet HS) in fourth at 2:04.35.

Le Bel just missed second place, as he finished .03 behind Seth Anderson of L&C, whose time was 1:57.25.

Dan Aki (Fr., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) provided Willamette's remaining individual event victory in the men's competition. He placed first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.63 seconds. Andrew Lum (So., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) of WU followed next in 56.09 seconds.

The team of Masei, Chris Whitehead (Sr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS), Lum and Guffey prevailed in the men's 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.28. Lewis & Clark's team of Hermanns, Tyler Moody, Anderson and Zac Oser finished less than a second later at 1:43.22.

In the men's 200-yard freestyle relay, Willamette took first place in 1:33.28 and also claimed second place in 1:39.62. The winning team featured Le Bel, Bayang, Shelby Merrill (Fr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) and Guffey. Swimming on the second WU team were Nick Barton (So., Oregon City, OR/Clackamas HS), Aki, Ian Robinson (Fr., Portland, OR/La Salle Catholic College Prep) and Sievers.

Masei narrowly missed a second individual victory when he took second place in the 100-yard breaststroke. Moody of Lewis & Clark won the event in 1:01.99, with Masei just .06 behind at 1:02.05. Le Bel nearly closed an early lead for Oser in the 100-yard freestyle. Oser placed first in 51.01 seconds, while Le Bel was timed at 51.62.

For the L&C men, Trevor Shapiro won three events, taking first place in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:01.78, the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:20.07, and the 400-yard individual medley in 4:29.86. Oser, in addition to winning the 100 free, also won the 50-yard freestyle for the Pioneers in 23.07 seconds.

Individual winners for the Bearcat women's team were Erin Parkinson (Sr., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS) in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Malia Santos (So., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) in the 100-yard butterfly, and Hope Nelson in the 500-yard freestyle.

Parkinson was timed at 11:22.08 in the 1,000 free. Nelson registered a time of 5:33.66 in the 500 free, while Santos was clocked at 1:02.43 in the 100 butterfly. Santos won by 1.96 seconds over Monica Castro, who finished in second for L&C at 1:04.39.

Kayla Ernewein of Lewis & Clark won the women's spring events, as she took first place in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.17 seconds and was first in the 100-yard freestyle in 56.99 seconds. Santos placed second for WU in the 50 free at 26.38 and Parkinson was second in the 100 free at 57.54.

Michaela Zuber of WU finished second in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:04.84. The event was won by Sofia Koutsoukis for the Pioneers with a time of 1:03.84. Koutsoukis also won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:04.94.

L&C earned the top three times in the women's 100-yard breaststroke. Aspen Johnson led he way for the Pioneers in 1:09.49.

The Bearcats will conclude the dual meet season when they host NWC rival Linfield College at the WU Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. (PST). A Live Webcast will be provided by the Bearcat Network during the meet.