Willamette Women's Team Swims Past Pacific at Exhibition Meet
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's swimming team downed Pacific University, 147-39, on Friday, Jan. 19 during an exhibition meet at the WU Natatorium. Three Bearcats each won two events and swam on Willamette's winning 200-yard medley relay team. The multiple event winners were Sarah Jenner (Jr., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS), Alayna Kisiday (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS), and Tessa Ciatti (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS).
Jenner won the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke, while Kisiday was victorious in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, and Ciatti grabbed wins in the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly. Jenner's triumph in the 1,650 freestyle was achieved in 20:10.71. Ana Kaldy (Fy., South Beach, OR/Newport HS) of WU placed second in 20:16.93. Jenner took first place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.00, while teammate Ali Cosbey-Lewis (Fy., Tucson, AZ/BASIS Oro Valley HS) earned second place at 1:16.18.
Kisiday completed the 50-yard freestyle in first place with a time of 26.10 seconds. Alex Moehnke of Pacific earned second place in 26.26 seconds, and Leah Howell (Fy., Bremerton, WA/Central Kitsap HS) of Willamette was third in 26.61. Kisiday's win in the 100-yard freestyle was claimed in 56.92 seconds. Ciatti recorded first place in the 400-yard individual medley in 5:03.24. She won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 1:05.01, while Ava Reich (So., Reno, NV/Robert McQueen HS) placed second in 1:08.85.
The Bearcats won the 200-yard medley relay included Howell on the anchor leg, followed by Jenner, Ciatti, and Kisiday. They combined for a winning time of 1:56.54.
Pacific won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:51.80, as the team of Maddie Russell, Jaz Capron-Graves, Moehnke, and Allie Simon, edged out Willamette's top team. It was Pacific's only win in the women's competition. For the Bearcats, Jacqueline Hall (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS), Emma Noffsinger (So., Arvada, CO/Northglenn HS), Emma Schauble (Fy., Portland, OR/Prospect Ridge Academy HS), and Natalie Thomas (Fy., Jensen Beach, Florida/American Cooperative School of Tunis) finished a close second in 1:52.68.
Winning one event each for the Bearcats were Noffsinger, Kaldy, and Tatum Good (Jr., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy). Noffsinger prevailed in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:10.65. Hall followed in second place at 2:12.25. Kaldy won the 500-yard freestyle, as she was timed at 6:04.27. Good was victorious in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.84, while Howell placed second at 1:04.60, and Moehnke from Pacific was third in 1:05.41.
The Bearcats will swim at the University of Puget Sound on Saturday, Jan. 20 in a Northwest Conference dual meet. Action in Tacoma, Washington, between Willamette and the Loggers is set to begin at 1 p.m. PST.