Bearcats Swim Strong, but Loggers Prevail in Close Races to Win Meet

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University and the University of Puget Sound both swam well in their Northwest Conference men's and women's swimming dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the WU Natatorium, but the Loggers won many close races to take first place in the team standings. The Loggers won the women's competition and the men's competition by matching scores of 135-69.

Puget Sound's men improved their record to 4-3 overall, 4-3 in the Northwest Conference. The women's team from Puget Sound moved to 5-3 on the season, 5-2 in the NWC. The Willamette men's team fell to 2-6 for the year, 2-5 in the NWC, while the Bearcat women's team slipped to 1-7 overall, 1-6 in the NWC.

It was Senior Day for the Bearcats, who honored the eight seniors on this year's Willamette teams. The seniors are Mika Costello (Jr., Nipomo, CA/Nipomo HS), Niki Kates (Sr., Truckee, CA/Forest Charter School), and Jensine Rasmussen (Sr., Tacoma, WA/Stadium HS) on the women's team, and Colin Hakeman (Sr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS), Ben Hedman (Sr., Davis, CA/Davis HS), Alex Hougan (Sr., Olympia, WA/Olympia HS), Jacob Hulti (Sr., Astoria, OR/Astoria HS) and Derek Ludwig (Sr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) on the men's team.

Willamette opened the meet with a win in the women's 200-yard medley relay. The Bearcats won the race in 1:56.38 as they held off Puget Sound's top team, which finished second in 1:57.29. Swimming for Willamette on the relay team were Corinne Pierson (So., Port Townsend, WA/Port Townsend HS), Min Wei (So., Fushun, China/Cascade HS), Kates, and Olivia Frenkel (Fy, Fairfield, CA/Angelo Rodriguez HS).

"I was pleased with how today's meet against a tough Puget Sound team went. We swam well and you could see each of our swimmers fighting to give their best. We have some things we need to clean up and sharpen before the NWC Championships, but I know we're on the right track. Congratulations to our seniors on their last home dual meet of their Bearcat Swimming career. Thank you for being a part of this team. I'm grateful to have coached you all for these past four years."
— Willamette Head Coach Brent Summers

The Bearcats registered several strong second place finishes in both the women's competition and the men's competition.

For the Willamette women's team, Rasmussen and Pierson each placed second by close margins in individual events. Rasmussen was second in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:04.52. She finished just 0.23 after Mackenzie Loi of Puget Sound, who won the event in 5:04.29. Pierson took second place in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.28. Kelli Callahan won the 100 backstroke for the Loggers in 1:02.10, as she edged out Pierson by 0.18.

The Bearcats swam well in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay, which was won by Puget Sound's team of Maddie Kriz, Kai Haven, Victoria Friedrich and Grace Moussa in 1:47.46. WU was second in 1:50.43, as Kates, Jordan Edner (Fy., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS), Pierson, and Cameron Taggesell (Jr., Sonoma, CA/Sonoma Valley HS) swam for the Bearcats.

Close finishes in the men's events were recorded for Willamette by Daniel Fang (Jr., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Catholic HS) and Ludwig. Fang placed second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.36, as he missed first place by just 0.66. Justin Sasano of Puget Sound won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.70. Ludwig achieved second place in the 100-yard butterfly, as he completed the race in 54.50 seconds. Eli Champagne of Puget Sound won the event in 54.06 for a margin of 0.44.

The Bearcat men's team took a strong second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Willamette's time was 1:33.05, with Ludwig, Evan Segimoto (Jr., Alamo, CA/The Athenian School), Hougan, and Ben Fritz (Jr., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS) swimming for the Bearcats. Puget Sound's winning time was 1:31.20, as Champagne, Vaughn Christensen, Dylan Reimers, and Brett Kolb competed for the Loggers.

Also placing second in individual events for the Willamette women's team were Frenkel in the 100-yard freestyle (58.26) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:06.84), Wei in the 100-yard butterfly (1:04.37), and Taggesell in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:13.12). Other members of the Bearcat men's team who took second place in individual events were Will Compton (Fy., Portage, MI/Portage Northern HS) in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Hakeman in the 400-yard individual medley (4:30.40), Fritz in the 500-yard freestyle (5:11.85), and Hedman in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.73).

Solid third place finishes for the men's team were earned by Keaton Adams (So., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) in the 50-yard freestyle, Fang in the 100-yard freestyle, and Hedman in the 400-yard individual medley. Adams was timed at 23.10 in the 50 free, just 0.03 out of second place and only 0.21 out of the lead. Fang completed the 100 free in 51.39 seconds, as he missed second place by just 0.10. Hedman's time of 4:30.47 in the 400 I.M. was only 0.07 behind Hakeman's time in second place.

For the WU women, Kates registered a strong third place result in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.68. Kates was 1.40 seconds away from the second place time by Pierson and only 1.58 seconds out of first place. Wei placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:14.47, as she trailed Taggesell's second place time by 1.35 seconds.

Kelli Callahan of Puget Sound won three events for the Logger women's team. She took first place in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.90, the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.10, and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.01. Puget Sound swimmers who won two individual events were Reimers in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle (16:42.24) and the men's 500-yard freestyle (4:50.71), Calista Skog in the women's 100-yard freestyle (54.87) and the women's 200-yard freestyle (2:02.07). and Kolb in the men's 400-yard individual medley (4:21.49) and the men's 100-yard freestyle (49.65).

Willamette's teams will complete the dual meet season on Saturday, Feb. 1, when they take on nearby rival Linfield College. Meet time in McMinnville, Oregon, is set for 1 p.m. (PST).