Willamette Men, Pacific Women, Win Swimming Meet

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

FOREST GROVE, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's swimming team and the Pacific University women's swimming team earned wins during a Northwest Conference dual meet on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Forest Grove Aquatic Center. The Bearcat men's team defeated Pacific, 117-87, while the Pacific women's team downed Willamette, 129-74.

Willamette's men improved to 1-4 overall and 1-4 in the NWC. The WU women's team fell to 0-5 overall, 0-5 in the NWC.

Pacific's men dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-5 in the NWC and the Pacific women advanced to 3-3 overall, 2-3 in the NWC.

The Bearcat men's team took first place in four individual events.

Mark Yuvienco (Fr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) won the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly. Alika Masei (So., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, while Jason Bayang (So., Waihawa, HI/Hoala School) prevailed in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Yuvienco's winning time in the 400 I.M. was 4:24.62. Dan Aki (So., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) of WU placed third in the event with a time of 4:30.53 to finish just 0.13 out of second place. Michael Sakai of Pacific took second in 4:30.40. Yuvienco won the 100 butterfly in 53.22 seconds, edging out Ryan Miller, who placed second for the Boxers in 53.33.

Masei was timed at 54.16 seconds to lead a 1-2 finish for the Bearcats in the 100 backstroke. Bayang was second at 56.92 seconds.

In the 100 breaststroke, Bayang registered a time of 1:03.21, helping Willamette sweep the top three spots. Kulananalu Tarnas (So., Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) placed second in 1:04.09, while Josh Bumgarner (So., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS) was third in 1:05.34.

Willamette earned first and second place in the men's 200-yard medley relay. The winning team, which was timed at 1:42.11, included Masei, Tarnas, Aki and Zander Le Bel (Sr., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS).

Taking second place for WU in 1:48.57 were Max Thompson (Fr., Lebanon, OR/Lebanon HS), Josh Trissel (Fr., Encinitas, CA/Canyon Crest Academy), Ming Zhi Ou (Fr., The Dalles, OR/The Dalles-Wahtonka HS) and Colin Sievers (Jr., Lynnwood, WA/Bishop Blanchet HS). They narrowly defeated Pacific, which finished in 1:48.87.

Shelby Merrill (So., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) of Willamette placed second in the longest men's race -- the 1650-yard freestyle -- with a time of 17:51.15. Charles Morse V won the race for the Boxers in 17:13.32. Yuvienco was second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:06.08, trailing only Morse, who placed first in 5:00.01.

Le Bel claimed second place for the Bearcats in the 100-yard freestyle in 50.95 seconds. Reuben White (Fr., Portland, OR/Westview HS) achieved second place in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.02. Jack Lloyd of Pacific won both events with a times of 48.47 seconds in the 100 and 1:47.63 in the 200.

For the Willamette women's team, Cassie Tallman (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) won two events. She placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.31, while taking nearly two seconds off her previous top time of 1:04.24. She also finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.43.

Ashlyn Witherwax (Fr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) followed Tallman in the 100-yard breaststroke, attaining second place in 1:04.09.

Malia Santos (Jr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) of WU earned second place in two events. She was second in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.98 seconds and took second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.78.

Michaela Zuber (Jr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) placed second in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:09.64, while Jamie Johnson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) was second in the 100-yard freestyle in 58.75 seconds. Kate Harvey (Fr., Atlantic Beach, FL/Duncan Fletcher HS) achieved second place in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:51.03.

Pacific won both of the women's relays, but prevailed in the 200-yard medley relay by less than one second. Pacific's team of Janae Sargent, Rachel Webster, Katie Porter and Amber Chase completed the race in 1:53.77. Willamette's team of Zuber, Witherwax, Santos and Tallman finished in 1:54.65.

Porter and Amber Clark each won two races for the Boxers. Porter prevailed in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.82 seconds and was the winner of the 100-yard butterfly in 59.44 seconds. Clark achieved first place in the distance events, winning the 500-yard freestyle at 5:23.45 and taking first in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:55.06.

Willamette will swim again on Saturday, Jan. 24, when the Bearcats host Lewis & Clark College at 1 p.m. (PST). It will be Senior Day for the Bearcats, who will honor Willamette's four seniors prior to the meet.