Bearcat Men, Pacific Lutheran Women Earn Victories in NWC Dual Meet
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- Ben Nickell (Sr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS) and Cole Lindberg (So., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) each won two events to lead the Willamette University men's swimming team to an 84-79 win over Pacific Lutheran University in a Northwest Conference dual meet at the PLU Pool on Saturday, Jan 14. The PLU women's team defeated Willamette 111-74 as Malia Wisham won two events for the Lutes.
Nickell took first place in the men's 500-yard freestyle and the men's 200-yard breaststroke. He won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:22.87, as he led a 1-2 finish for the Bearcats. Ethan Davies (Fy., Hong Kong/Discovery College) was second at 5:25. 20. In the 200 breaststroke, Nickell's winning time was 2:21.40.
Lindberg registered his victories in the men's 200-yard individual medley and the men's 200-yard butterfly. He won by 0.79 in the 200 I.M., clocking in at 2:05.23, while Loo Na'inoa of PLU was second in 2:06.02. Lindberg swam unopposed in the 200 butterfly and registered a time of 2:14.14.
Other winners for the Bearcats were Davies and Julius Wilhelmi (Jr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) from the men's team and Jordan Edner (Sr., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS), Alayna Kisiday (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS), and Anna Hornbeck (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS) from the women's team.
Davies prevailed in the men's 1,000-yard freestyle in 11:19.10 while swimming unopposed. Edner also swam unopposed as she won the women's 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 12:58.20. Wilhelmi took first place in the men's 50-yard freestyle in 21.84 seconds and Kisiday was first in the women's 50-yard freestyle in 26.17 seconds. Hornbeck won the women's 200-yard breaststroke in 2:35.59.
Wilhelmi and Kisiday also achieved second place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle events. Wilhelmi's time in the men's 100 freestyle was 48.92 seconds, as he completed the race 0.51 behind the winner, Devin Stanley of Pacific Lutheran, who was timed at 48.41 seconds. Kisiday attained a time of 56.56 seconds in the women's 100 freestyle race. Wisham won the women's 100 free for the Lutes in 55.44 seconds. Wisham also took first place in the women's 200-yard individual medley in 2:15.81.
Another solid second-place result for the Bearcats was contributed by Emma Noffsinger (Fy., Arvada, CO/Northglenn HS) in the women's 200-yard freestyle. Noffsinger was timed at 2:10.26. Sidney Chan-Orcutt won the race for the Lutes in 2:05.91.
The Bearcat men's team improved to 2-4 overall and to 2-4 in the NWC. Willamette's women's team fell to 0-6 on the season, 0-6 in the NWC. For PLU, the men's team fell to 1-6 overall, 1-6 in the NWC, while the women's team ended the meet at 4-3 overall, 4-3 in the NWC.
Willamette will take on NWC rival Lewis & Clark College on Friday, Jan. 20 at the WU Natatorium. The action is scheduled to get underway in Salem, Oregon, at 6 p.m. (PST).