Bearcats Win Four Events on First Day of 2021 Bruin Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

NEWBERG, Ore. -- Willamette University won both 400-yard medley relay events and Sarah Jenner (Fy., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) and Tatum Good (Fy., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) each took first place in an individual event on the first day of the 2021 Bruin Invitational, hosted by George Fox University on Saturday, Dec. 4. Jenner won the women's 200-yard breaststroke to lead a 1-2-4-5 finish by the Bearcats. Good was the winner in the women's 200-yard backstroke. Julius Wilhelmi (So., Roseville, Ca/Woodcreek HS) placed second in the men's 100-yard freestyle and the men's 100-yard butterfly.

Preliminaries and finals were held in the individual events, with only finals in the relays. Several events featured an "A" final (championship) and a "B" final (consolation). The Bruin Invitational will conclude on Sunday, Dec. 5, with prelims in the morning and finals in the late afternoon.

"Today was a fantastic opportunity to swim fast while suited up against some good competition," Willamette Head Swimming Coach Brent Summers said. "We had many fast swims this morning during prelims which set us up well for finals. It's always tough to swim fast in the morning and evening, but we did a great job of bringing energy to the finals and many swimmers improved on their preliminary times.

"We had a few lifetime best times, which is always exciting to see at this point in the season. The team raced really well and I'm excited for the second day tomorrow," Summers commented.

Keaton Adams (Sr., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS), Ella Isaacson (Fy., Saint Paul, MN/Central HS), and Veronica Castille (Fy., Round Rock, TX/Cedar Ridge HS) each competed for the first time this season. Adams was a defensive end on the Willamette football team this fall, while Isaacson and Castille competed for the women's triathlon team.

Jenner led the way in the women's 200-yard breaststroke "A" final with a winning time of 2:26.17. She was followed by teammate Anna Hornbeck (Fy., Bend, OR/Bend HS), who took second place at 2:27.37. Katherina Cory (So., Dublin, CA/Dublin HS) of WU placed fourth at 2:36.47, and Veronica Castille (Fy., Round Rock, TX/Cedar Ridge HS) soon finished in fifth place for the Bearcats in 2:36.81. Preventing a top-four sweep was Ciara Orness of Lewis & Clark College, who took third place at 2:27.55. Min Wei (Sr., Fushun, China/Cascade HS) of Willamette won the "B" final in 2:34.76 to take ninth place overall. Wei's time would have placed fourth in the "A" final.

In addition to winning the 200 breaststroke, Jenner earned second place in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:26.65. She was just 0.71 behind the winner, Audrey LeMoss of George Fox, who completed the race in 5:26.65.

Good achieved first place in the women's 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:12.21. She won by just over two seconds, with Hannah Brandow of Pacific University taking second place in 2:14.32.

The day ended with Willamette sweeping first place in the men's and women's 400-yard medley relays. In the women's relay, Good, Hornbeck, Wei, and Alayna Kisiday (Fy., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) registered a time of 4:10.88 to win by 2.32 seconds. Lewis & Clark finished next in 4:13.20. The men's relay was won by Willamette's team of Will Compton (Jr., Portage, MI/Portage Northern HS), Ben Nickell (Jr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS), Cole Lindberg (Fy., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy), and Wilhelmi in 3:39.50, as they rallied for the win. The Bearcats moved past Lewis & Clark, which finished in second place at 3:40.41.

Wilhelmi's time for second place in the men's 100-yard freestyle was 47.61. JP Greener of L&C won the race in 47.21 seconds. Wilhelmi was timed at 53.04 seconds in the men's 100-yard butterfly. He placed second behind Micah Rysavy of L&C, who took first in 52.23 seconds. Wilhelmi edged out Levi Buker of Linfield University, who was third in 53.10, while Lindberg of Willamette placed fourth at 53.14.

Nickell placed second in the men's 200-yard breaststroke for the Bearcats in 2:14.41. Alex Landry from Linfield won the race with a time of 2:12.26.

Other Top Results for Willamette

Good took third place and Cory was fourth in the women's 200-yard individual medley. Good completed the race in 2:20.19 and Cory was timed at 2:21.24. Jacqueline Hall (Fy., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) of WU was eighth in the "A" final at 2:34.11.

Willamette placed third in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:32.01. Swimming for the Bearcats were Lindberg, Adams, Copeland, and Wilhelmi.

In the men's 500-yard freestyle, Compton placed sixth in 5:06.86 and Robbie Daugherty (Sr., Reno, NV/Damonte Ranch HS) was seventh in 5:16.75.

Kisiday was seventh and Gwyn Fritz (Jr., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS) was eighth in the "A" final of the women's 100-yard freestyle. Kisiday's time was 57.47 seconds, while Fritz finished in 58.44 seconds.