Bearcat Men's Team Wins Willamette Invitational in Swimming

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

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's swimming team won the Willamette Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the WU Natatorium. The Bearcats scored 201.5 points, while College of Idaho took second place at 171 and Pacific University was third at 157.5.

In the women's team competition, Pacific finished in first place with a score of 200. College of Idaho was second at 178 and Willamette earned third place at 165. Mills College (Calif.) took fourth place with 25 points.

The Bearcat women's team opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. Willamette's time was 1:55.06, as the Bearcats won by 2.66 seconds. College of Idaho placed second in 1:57.72 and Pacific was third in 1:58.48.

Willamette's winning relay team included Michaela Zuber (Jr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS), Ashlyn Witherwax (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School), Cassie Tallman (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) and Malia Santos (Jr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS).

Other wins for the WU women's team were achieved in the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley.

Witherwax won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10:38. She won nearly three seconds over Selena Warburton from College of Idaho, who took second in 1:13.35. Kirby Roberts, also from C of I, was third in 1:13.61.

In the 200-yard breaststroke, Tallman was the winner, as she completed the race in 2:30.63. Witherwax earned second place in 2:34.63. Tallman also won the 200 I.M., recording a time of 2:15.01, for a narrow win over Mckayla Stevens form C of I. Stevens finished .06 back in second place at 2:15.07.

Santos was second in the 100-yad butterfly. Her time was 1:01.70, as she edged out Quin McLaughlin from College of Idaho, who was third at 1:01.78. Katie Porter of Pacific won the event in 1:00.27.

Mark Yuvienco (Fr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) of Willamette won two events. He finished first in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:56.07 and was victorious in the 100-yard butterfly in 53.23 seconds. In the 200 fly, teammate Dan Aki (So., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) was second in 2:00.14. Tyler Maryon from C of I was second in the 100 fly at 54.68 seconds.

Willamette's Alika Masei (So., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) achieved second place in three events.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Masei was timed at 56.69 seconds, just .65 out of first place. Thomas Sheridan from College of Idaho won the 100 back in 56.04 seconds. Masei earned a time of 2:02.42 in the 200-yard backstroke to finish .60 behind Sheridan, who took first place in 2:01.82.

Sheridan and Masei also led the way in the 200-yard individual medley. Sheridan's winning time was 2:02.49. Masei registered a time of 2:04.20.

Shelby Merrill (So., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) from Willamette was second in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. His time was 17:29.87. He stayed close to winner Charles Morse of Pacific throughout the race. Morse won in 17:25.39.

WU also took second place in the men's 100-yard freestyle and the men's 200-yard breaststroke.

Zander Le Bel (Sr., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS) was second in the 100 free with a time of 49.85 seconds. Jack Lloyd of Pacific won the event in 48.04 seconds. In the 200 breaststroke, Kulananalu Tarnas (So., Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) of WU clocked in at 2:22.92, shortly after winner Paul Allen from C of I finished in 2:22.27.

The Willamette men's team placed second in the 200-yard medley relay. College of Idaho won the race in 1:41.93. Willamette's achieved a time of 1:42.72. Swimming for the Bearcats during the relay were Masei, Tarnas, Aki and Le Bel.

Willamette has completed its fall swimming schedule. The Bearcats will participate in winter training in San Diego, Calif., from Jan. 2-8. WU's next home event will be an exhibition meet against Southwestern Oregon Community College on Saturday, Jan. 10.