Willamette Wins 12 Events, as Bearcat Men Defeat Pacific, Women Fall to Boxers

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- The Willamette University swimming teams combined to win 12 events during their dual meet at Pacific University on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Bearcats won the men's competition, 96-41, over the Boxers, while the Pacific women's team defeated Willamette, 111-82. The Bearcats won eight men's events and four women's events.

Willamette's men are now 1-1 on the season, 1-1 in the NWC. The Bearcat women's team dropped to 0-2 overall, 0-2 in the NWC. Pacific fell to 0-2 overall, 0-2 in the NWC in men's swimming. In women's swimming, the Boxers moved to 1-1 overall, 1-1 in the NWC.

"Another day of great racing and effort by our teams," Willamette Head Swimming Coach Brent Summers commented. "Across both teams, we had some people in events in which they normally don't compete due to sickness and injuries. Congratulations to Pacific on their win on the women's side. They put together a great lineup that would have been very tough even if we had been at full strength."

Swimmers for the Bearcats who won two individual events were Ethan Davies (Fy., Hong Kong/Discovery College) from the men's team and Sarah Jenner (So., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) and Alayna Kisiday (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) from the women's team. Davis took first place in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 19:49.24. William LaDuca (Fy., Salem, OR/South Salem HS) was second in 19:56.46. Davis swam unopposed in the 400-yard individual medley and recorded a time of 5:06.94.

Jenner was victorious in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 20:33.96, leading a 1-2 finish that included Jordan Edner (Sr., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) in second place at 21:47.27. Jenner's second win was in the 100-yard breaststroke as she earned a time of 1:14.95 to win by nearly three seconds. Kisiday prevailed in the 50-yard freestyle as she won the sprint in 26.11 seconds. She added a triumph in the 100-yard freestyle in 56.72 seconds.

Additional individual event winners for the Willamette men's team were Asher Kiel (Fy., Carson City, NV/Carson City HS) in the 200-yard freestyle, Julius Wilhelmi (Jr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) in the 50-yard freestyle, Logan Copeland (Jr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS) in the 100-yard backstroke, and Ben Nickell (Sr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS) in the 100-yard breaststroke. Keil was first in the 200 freestyle in 2:08.11 and Wilhelmi grabbed first place in the 50 freestyle in 22.30 seconds. Copeland won the 100 backstroke at 1:02.55. Nickell finished the 100 breaststroke in first place with a winning time of 1:05.29, while Copeland completed a 1-2 finish by grabbing second at 1:08.27.

The Bearcats also took first place in both of the men's relay events. In the 200-yard medley relay, the Bearcats swam unopposed, as Copeland, Nickell, Wilhelmi, and Kevin Olmedo (Fy., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS) combined for a time of 1:44.20. Willamette won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:41.71, while Pacific was timed at 1:46.34 for second place. WU's freestyle relay unit included Kiel, LaDuca, Davies, and Nickell.

Willamette is scheduled to return to action at the WU Natatorium on Friday, Nov. 18 against Whitman College. Action is slated to begin at 6 p.m. (PST). The Bearcats also will be at home on Saturday, Nov. 19 when they will host Whitworth University at 1 p.m.

"With no meets next weekend, we get a full week to really explore what we learned this weekend and prepare fully for the upcoming Whitman and Whitworth duals," Summers noted.