Kisiday Places 11th Overall and is Second in 50-yard Freestyle at NWC Sprints

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Willamette University swimmer Alayna Kisiday (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) earned 11th place in the women's sprint pentathlon and finished second in the 50-yard freestyle at the Northwest Conference Sprints, hosted by Linfield University on Saturday, Oct. 28. Kisiday registered a five-event overall time of 3:05.87 during the 100-yard individual medley as well as 50-yard sprints in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.

The Bearcats placed third in the women's team standings. Linfield finished in first place with 286.5 points. The University of Puget Sound was second at 242.5 points, while Willamette's score for third place was 137. George Fox University owned fourth place at 117 and Pacific University was fifth with 82 points.

"The women's team had a very strong showing today," Willamette Director of Swimming Brent Summers said.  "Four Bearcats made it inside the top 20 overall in the pentathlon. This was our first time having back-to-back meets and it was a great opportunity to swim with some fatigue yet still race hard. We'll go to work this week cleaning up some technical aspects and get ready for our dual against Pacific Lutheran University."

In the women's sprint pentathlon, Kisiday was closely followed by teammate Tessa Ciatti (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS), who placed 12th with an overall time of 3:08.19. Leah Howell (Fy., Bremerton, WA/Central Kitsap HS) of Willamette was 15th overall in 3:09.05 and Tatum Good (Jr., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) placed 16th for the Bearcats in 3:09.94. Also in the top 25 was Anna Hornbeck (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS), who placed 24th in 3:15.96. Jacqueline Hall (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) was 28th overall at 3:17.15.

Kisiday's second place time in the 50-yard freestyle was 25.69 seconds. Amy Madsen from Puget Sound won the event in 25.60 seconds. In addition, Kisiday placed ninth in the 50-yard butterfly, was 10th in the 100-yard individual medley, took 12th place in the 50-yard breaststroke, and was 17th in the 50-yard backstroke.

Ciatti placed third in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 28.06 seconds. She was 0.11 behind Riley Parker of George Fox, who finished second in 27.95 seconds. Madeleine Brenna from Puget Sound won the 50 fly in 27.45 seconds. Ciatti added 15th place in the 100-yard individual medley in 1:06.47 and also was 15th in the 50-yard backstroke in 31.44 seconds.

In the 50-yard backstroke, Good earned sixth place in 30.06 seconds and Howell was eighth in 30.12 seconds. Hornbeck recorded fourth place in the 50-yard breaststroke, as she completed the race in 33.04 seconds. Howell registered a ninth place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at 26.17 seconds. Lydia Schmitt (Fy., Olympia, WA/North Thurston HS) placed 14th in the 50-yard butterfly and Sarah Jenner (Sr., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) was 15th in the 50-yard breaststroke.

Willamette will compete at Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference dual meet on Friday, Nov. 3. Meet time is scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT in Tacoma, Washington.