Bearcats Place Second in Seven Events and Two Relays on Senior Day
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- On Senior Day for the 2023-24 season, the Willamette University women's swimming team placed second in seven individual events and took second place in both relays, in action against Linfield University on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the WU Natatorium. Linfield won the women's team competition, 129-75, as the Wildcats upped their record to 5-2 overall, 5-2 in the NWC. Willamette fell to 1-5 on the season, 1-5 in the NWC.
Prior to the meet, Willamette honors the two seniors on this year's women's team. Willamette's seniors are Rachel Carlson (Jr., Santa Maria, CA/Orcutt Academy HS) and Lyddie Turner (Sr., Everett, WA/Everett HS).
The Wildcats won the team competition, 129-75. Willamette fell to 1-5 on the season, 1-5 in the NWC. Linfield improved to 5-2 on the season, 5-2 in the NWC.
Leah Howell (Fy., Bremerton, WA/Central Kitsap HS) placed second in two events for the Bearcats. She was second in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.43 seconds in a strong three-way finish. Caley Haydu of Linfield earned first place at 26.33 seconds. Following Howell by just 0.12 was Lydia Schmitt (Fy., Olympia, WA/North Thurston HS) of Willamette, who claimed third place in 26.55 seconds. Howell also finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.77. Avery Campbell from Linfield won the 100 back in 1:01.14, while Tatum Good (Jr., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) of WU was third in 1:04.04.
Howell swam the first leg on the 200-yard medley relay team that took second in 1:54.15. Also on the medley relay for Willamette were Anna Hornbeck (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS), Tessa Ciatti (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS), and Alayna Kisiday (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS). The Wildcats won the 200 medley relay in 1:53.77 for a 0.38 margin of victory.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, WU's team of Kisiday, Jacqueline Hall (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS), Good, and Schmitt grabbed second place in 1:46.37. Linfield won the medley relay with a time of 1:43.51.
Joining Howell with a second place finish in an individual event for the Bearcats were Kisiday, Ciatti, Hornbeck, Sarah Jenner (Jr., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS), and Schmitt. Kisiday earned second place in the 200-yard feestyle relay in 2:03.09. The event was won by Campbell for the Wildcats in 2:01.95. Ciatti placed second in the 100-yard butterfly, as she recorded a time of 1:01.79. Sarah Arpag of Linfield won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.04.
Hornbeck was second in the 100-yard breastroke. Her time was 1:12.06. Jenner placed second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:01.01. WU teammate Ana Kaldy (Fy., South Beach, OR/Newport HS) was third in 6:03.92.
Schmitt achieved second palce in the 100-yard freestyle in 58.22 seconds. She trailed only Whitney Averill from Linfield, who won the event in 56.45 seconds.
The dual meet on Saturday concluded Willamette's regular season schedule. The Bearcats will get ready for the 2024 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8 through Sunday, Feb. 11 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.