Bearcats to Compete at NWC Swimming Championships in Corvallis

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University swimming teams will compete this weekend at the 2015 Northwest Conference Championships at the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis, Ore. The NWC Championships will start on Friday, Feb. 13 and will continue through Sunday, Feb. 15.

Action will get underway at 10 a.m. (PST) on Friday with the first group of preliminary heats. Finals in Friday's events will start at 6 p.m. On Saturday, prelims are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with finals at 6 p.m. On Sunday, prelims will start at 10 a.m. with finals at 5 p.m.

The Official NWC Swimming Championships Website provides links for Live Video and Results.

Several Willamette athletes are ranked in the top 16 in a number of events. WU also has several swimmers ranked near the top 16 who hope to reach the finals at the NWC meet. The top eight finishers in the preliminary heats this weekend will advance to the championship finals, while the next eight finishers will move on to the consolation finals.

Heading the list of Willamette women's swimmers listed in the top 16 is Cassie Tallman (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), who is ranked in five events. Malia Santos (Jr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) and Ashlyn Witherwax (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) are each ranked in two events, while Michaela Zuber (Jr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) is listed in one event.

Tallman is ranked fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:30.08. Witherwax is 11th in the 200 breaststroke at 2:32.55. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Witherwax is seventh with a time of 1:09.58 and Tallman is 10th at 1:09.86.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Tallman holds a sixth place ranking of 2:15.01. Tallman is 11th in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:43.25 and is 12th in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.31.

Zuber also is ranked in the 100-yard backstroke. She is 16th with a top time this season of 1:03.23.

Santos is listed in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events. She is 14th in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:19.34. She is 16th in the 100 butterfly in 1:01.55.

The Willamette women's 400-yard medley relay team is ranked fifth at 4:14.02. Swimming on the relay that recorded WU's top time were Zuber, Witherwax, Santos and Tallman.

For the Bearcat men's team, Mark Yuvienco (Fr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) is included among the top 16 swimmers in six events. Alika Masei (So., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) is listed in three events, while Shelby Merrill (So., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) is ranked in two events and Dan Aki (So., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) is listed in one.

Yuvienco's top ranking is third in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:56.07. Aki is ranked 11th in the 200 butterfly after registering a top time of 2:00.14.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Yuvienco is ranked ninth with a time of 4:54.14. He is also ranked ninth in the 100-yard butterfly in 53.05 seconds and in the 400-yard individual medley at 4:20.32.

Masei is ranked 10th in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:01.80, while Yuvienco is ranked 14th at 2:03.33. Yuvienco is 12th in the 200-yard breaststroke with a top result of 2:20.00.

Both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events include Masei among the top times. He is seventh in each event, with a time of 54.16 seconds in the 100 backstroke and a time of 1:59.66 in the 200 backstroke.

Shelby Merrill is listed among the top swimmers in two distance events. He is 12th in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a best time of 17:28.81 and is 13th in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 10:39.50.

Willamette's men are fifth in the 400-yard medley relay. The team's best time during the season was 3:43.65 and was achieved by Masei, Kulananalu Tarnas (So., Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy), Yuvienco and Zander Le Bel (Sr., Dallas, TX/Richardson HS).

The 2014 NWC team championships were won by the Pacific Lutheran University women and the Whitworth University men. Willamette took fifth place in the men's standings and WU Head Coach Leslie Shevlin was chosen NWC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year. The Bearcat women's team placed eighth a year ago.