Lin Finishes 22nd and Ludwig Places 23rd at NWC Sprint Pentathlon

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Kiley Lin (Sr./Jr., Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn HS) of Willamette University placed 22nd overall in the women's competition and Derek Ludwig (Jr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) placed 23rd for the Bearcats in the men's competition, at the Northwest Conference Sprint Pentathlon on Saturday, Oct. 27 at Linfield College. The Bearcats took seventh place in both the men's and women's team standings.

Swimmers at the NWC Sprint Pentathlon competed in the 100-yard individual medley in addition to 50-yard races in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Athletes who finished all five races were eligible to place in the pentathlon.

Lin registered a combined time of 3:09.75 for her 22nd place finish in the women's pentathlon. Kaycee Simpson from Pacific Lutheran University won the women's pentathlon title with a time of 2:54.99. Kelli Callahan from University of Puget Sound was second at 2:57.99 and Evette Dow of Linfeld was third at 2:58.32. A total of 106 women's swimmers completed the pentathlon.

In the men's pentathlon, Ludwig earned an overall time of 2:45.55 to take 23rd place out of 85 swimmers. The men's pentathlon title went to Noah Cutting of Linfield with a combined time of 2:34.80. Owen Lempert from Whitworth University took second at 2:35.72 and Jake Davies of Whitworth was third at 2:37.80.

Lin achieved 23rd place in the women's 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:06.32. Min Wei (Fr., Fushun, China/Cascade HS) was 32nd in the 100 I.M. at 1:07.05.

Three Bearcats placed between 27th and 30th in the men's 100-yard individual medley. Ben Fritz (So., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS) took 27th in 58.95 seconds and Ludwig tied for 28th in 59.05 seconds. Mykah Fujiwara (Sr., Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School) finished 30th at 59.06 seconds.

The women's 50-yard butterfly included Lin in 15th place and Wei in 25th. Lin completed the race in 28.69 seconds. Wei was clocked at 29.14 seconds. Also for WU, Corinne Pierson (Fr., Port Townsend, WA/Port Townsend HS) was 33rd in 29.51 seconds and Rachel Harvill (Sr., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS)  placed 34th in 29.63.

Ludwig registered an eighth place finish in the men's 50-yard butterfly. His time was 24.63 seconds. He was 0.33 out of a tie for fourth place. Fritz placed 35th in the 50 butterfly at 25.92 seconds.

In the women's 50-yard backstroke, Lin was 10th and Pierson took 15th. Lin's time was 29.58 seconds, while Pierson touched out in 29.94 seconds. The winner of the event was Simpson of PLU with a time of 29.05.

The men's 50-yard backstroke was won by Cutting of Linfield in 24.44 seconds. Ludwig placed 12th at 26.70 and Fritz was 24th at 27.45. Colin Hakeman (Jr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) of Willamette was 36th at 28.34.

Wei took 16th place in the women's 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 34.19 seconds. Cameron Taggesell (So., Sonoma, CA/Sanoma Valley HS) placed 37th for the Bearcats in 35.97 seconds.

For Willamette in the men's 50-yard breaststroke, Fujiwara was 21st. His time in the event was 30.14 seconds.

Leading the results for the Bearcats in the women's 50-yard freestyle was Harvill in 17th place at 26.66 seconds. Lin was 27th with a time of 27.07 seconds.

In the men's 50-yard freestyle, Fritz was 26th in 23.53 seconds. Ludwig placed 27th just 0.01 behind Fritz in 23.54 seconds.

Pacific Lutheran won the women's team title with a score of 228. Linfield was second at 221, with Whitworth in third at 119. Puget Sound placed fourth at 116, followed by George Fox University in fifth at 64, Pacific University in sixth at 15 and Willamette in seventh at 12.

Whitworth took first place in the men's team standings with a score of 252.5. Linfield placed second at 181.5 and Pacific Lutheran was third at 172.5. Puget Sound finished fourth at 114.5, with George Fox in fifth at 20.5, Pacific in sixth at 17.5 and Willamette in seventh at 16.

The Bearcats will open the dual meet season on Friday, Nov. 2 at Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington. Meet time is set for 6 p.m. (PDT).