Bearcats Win against Pacific in Men's and Women's Swimming
By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University swimming teams defeated Pacific University by sizable margins on Friday, Jan. 22 at the WU Natatorium. Willamette won the women's competition, 145-52, and took first place in the men's competition, 118-77.
With the victory, Willamette's women improved their record to 2-4 on the season, 2-3 in the Northwest Conference. The Bearcat men's team moved to 1-4 overall, 1-4 in the NWC.
The Pacific women's team fell to 0-6 overall, 0-5 in the NWC. The Boxers dropped in men's swimming to 1-5 on the season, 1-4 in the NWC.
A total of four Bearcats each won two individual events for Willamette.
For the women's team, Cassie Tallman (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke, while Anna Burdine (Fr., Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier HS) prevailed in the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Tallman won the 200 individual medley in 2:18.83. Rachel Webster of Pacific placed second at 2:20.39. The winning time for Tallman in the 200 breaststroke was 2:33.42, as she led a 1-2-3 finish for the Bearcats. Ashlyn Witherwax (So., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) was second at 2:36.60 and Leah Freeborn (Sr., Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer HS) took third in 2:42.12.
Burdine excelled in both distance races, winning the 500 freestyle in 5:40.69 and taking first in the 1,000 freestyle in 11:55.50.
The Bearcat men's team received double wins from Mark Yuvienco (So., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) in the 200-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle and from Alika Masei (Jr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke.
Yuvienco registered a time of 2:00.73 in the 200 butterfly to win by just under two seconds over Michael Sakai of the Boxers, who placed second at 2:02.59. In the 500 freestyle, Yuvienco trailed early in the race, but surged ahead and placed first in 5:00.77. Charles Morse of Pacific was second in 5:04.74. Morse edged out Shelby Merrill (Jr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) of WU, who finished strong, but missed second by 0.19 with a time of 5:04.93.
Masei gained the win in the 200 individual medley in 2:04.23 to win by more than three seconds. He led the field in the 200 backstroke by more than four seconds, winning in 2:03.67.
Jack Lloyd of Pacific won two individual events for the Boxer men's team. He took first place in the 50-yard freestyle in 22:06 seconds and claimed first in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.30 seconds. Reuben White (So., Portland, OR/Westview HS)of Willamette was second in the 100 freestyle at 51.41 seconds.
Overall, the Willamette women's team took first place in 10 of 11 events. The lone victory for the Boxers was in the 200-yard butterfly, which Webster won at 2:19.42.
Winning one individual event each for the Bearcat women's team were Michaela Zuber (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS), Malia Santos (Sr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS), Rachel Harvill (Fr., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS) and Kiley Lin (Fr., Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn HS).
Zuber placed first in the 200-yard freestyle. Her time was 2:06.97. Kristi Miyakawa (So., Los Alamitos, CA/Los Alamitos HS) of WU took second in 2:08.03. Santos won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.92 seconds to start a 1-2-3 finish. Harvill was second at 26.48 and Lin placed third at 26.88.
Harvill's win was in the 100-yard freestyle, which she finished in 58.14 seconds to begin another 1-2-3 result for the Bearcats. Miyakawa achieved second place in 58.71 and Jamie Johnson (So., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) was third in 59.56.
Lin bested the field in the 200-yard backstroke. She recorded a time of 2:18.58. Zuber provided WU with second place as well at 2:19.86.
Willamette won the women's 400-yard medley relay and the women's 400-yard freestyle relay. In the medley relay, WU's time was 4:15.53 and was earned by Lin, Witherwax, Tallman and Johnson. The team of Santos, Harvill, Miyakawa and Johnson took first in the free relay at 3:53.67.
The Bearcat men gained wins in seven events. In addition to two wins each for Yuvienco and Masei, Willamette won two other indnividual events and one relay.
Merrill was victorious in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 10:22.29. He held off Morse by 0.68. Morse earned second place at 10:22.97.
Mykah Fujiwara (Fr., Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School) of Willamette won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:24.24. In the closest race of the day, he touched out just before Carter Suzuki, who placed second at 2:24.35.
Willamette's men defeated Pacific in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:45.42, with the Boxers finishing in 3:47.64. Swimming on the relay for WU were Jason Bayang (Jr., Wahiawa, HI/Hoala School), Masei, Dan Aki (Jr., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) and White.
The Bearcats will swim against NWC opponent Lewis & Clark College on Saturday (Jan. 23) in Portland, Oregon. Meet time is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PST).