Bearcat Men, Boxer Women, Earn Wins in NWC Swimming Meet

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's team and the Pacific University women's team each recorded victories during a Northwest Conference duel swimming meet between the Bearcats and the Boxers on Saturday, Jan. 21. The Bearcat men registered a 134.5-70.5 win over the Boxers, while the Pacific women's team edged out Willamette, 105-97.

Willamette's men improved to 3-4 on the season, including 2-4 in the NWC. The Bearcat women's team fell to 0-7 overall, 0-6 in the NWC. The Pacific women moved to 1-6 overall, 1-5 in the NWC, while the Boxer men fell to 0-7 on the season, 0-6 in the NWC.

The Bearcat men won five events, including both relays.

In the 200-yard medley relay, Willamette swimmers Jason Bayang (Sr., Wahiawa, HI/Hoala School), Alika Masei (Jr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS), Mark Yuvienco (Jr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) and Derek Ludwig (Fr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) registered a time of 1:41.48. Pacific finished second in 1:46. 11.

The Bearcats won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:33.73, with Shelby Merrill (Sr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS), Reuben White (Sr./Jr., Portland, OR/Westview HS), Colin Hakeman (Fr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) and Ludwig contributing to the win. Pacific took second place at 1:34.45.

Merrill also won the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:38.82 to lead a 1-2 finish for the Bearcats. Hakeman placed second with a time of 17:56.54.

Yuvienco added a win in the 400-yard individual medley. He earned a time of 4:23.26 to claim a sizeable victory by 12.66 seconds. Yuvienco took second place in the 100-yard butterfly by a much closer margin of 0.17. Roy Miller from Pacific won the 100 fly in 53.37 seconds, while Yuvienco touched out in 53.54 seconds.

Also providing Willamette with an individual men's victory was Bayang, who finished first in the 100-yard backstroke. He completed the race in 57.71 seconds to edge out Aukai Kea of Pacific, who placed second in 57.90 seconds.

Yuvienco was joined by four other members of the Bearcat men's team who narrowly missed wins by achieving close second-place finishes.

Merrill placed second in the 500-yard freestyle by just 0.03 in a battle with Miller of Pacific. The race ended with Miller winning in 5:01.80 and Merrill touching out in 5:01.83.

Masei was second in the 100-yard breaststroke by just 0.12, as he earned a time of 1:01.60. Kevin Quan won the event for the Boxers in 1:01.48.

Bayang claimed second place in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.12 seconds. Quan earned first place in 22.61 seconds. Gabriel Hartnell (So., Hawthorne, CA/Da Vinci Science) of WU took second in the 100-yard freestyle in 53.02, as Derek Dunn of Pacific won the race in 52.22.

In addition, White was second in the 200-yard freestyle. His time for the Bearcats was 1:55.73.

Cassie Tallman (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) recorded two of Willamette's four wins in the women's events. She placed first in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:06.51 and also took first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.97.

Kate Harvey (Jr., Atlantic Beach, FL/Duncan Fletcher HS) won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:55.68. The Bearcats earned a 1-2-3 result as Pacific did not compete in the event. Anna Burdine (So., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS) placed second for WU in 20:19.90.

The Bearcats also were victorious in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Swimmers on the relay unit were Kristi Miyakawa (Jr., Los Alamitos, CA/Los Alamitos HS), Jamie Johnson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS), Harvey and Rachel Harvill (So., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS). Willamette's time was 144.76, while Pacific was second in 1:46.23.

Tallman took second place in the 100-yard backstroke just 0.06 out of first place. Alex Winslow won the race for Pacific in 1:05.46, while Tallman finished in 1:05.52.

Harvill placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.24 seconds. Alissa Frazier of Pacific won the event in 25.65 seconds. Harvey also earned second in the 100-yard freestyle in 58.02 seconds.

Also for the WU women, Harvey took second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:50.40. She trailed only Rachel Webster of Pacific, who won the 500 freestyle in 5:42.20.

The Bearcats will compete again on Saturday, Jan. 28 against Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Meet time is set for 1 p.m. (PST).