Bearcats Defeat Lewis & Clark in Men's Swimming, 108-87
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's swimming team defeated Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark College, 108-87, in a dual meet on Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion on the L&C campus. Willamette won five individual events and one relay. The meet was originally slated for Saturday, Jan. 13, but was rescheduled due to the weather.
Willamette improved to 1-4 on the season, 1-4 in the NWC. Lewis & Clark fell to 1-4 overall, 1-4 in the conference.
Julius Wilhelmi (Sr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) and Nicholas Moore (Fy., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake HS) each won two events, while Cole Lindberg (Jr., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) was victorious in one event. Wilhelmi placed first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Moore was first in the 1,650-yard freestyle early in the meet and in the 500-yard freestyle near the end of the meet. Moore also swam on Willamette's winning 200-yard freestyle relay team. Lindberg won the 100-yard butterfly.
In the 50 freestyle, Wilhelmi registered a time of 22.02 seconds. Kevin Olmedo (So., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS) of WU placed second in 22.24 seconds. Wilhelmi took first place in the 100 freestyle in 48.58 seconds. Micah Rysavy of L&C placed second 1.75 seconds later at 50.33.
Moore swam to victory in the 1,650 freestyle in 17:32.62, as he won by 17.65 seconds over Aidan Ringel of L&C. Ringel's time was 18:11.27. In the 500 free, Moore's winning time was 5:10.10. Ringel placed second at 5:12.64.
Lindberg earned his win in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.31 seconds. He prevailed by 1.11 over Michael Spicer from the Pioneers. Lindberg also registered a third place result in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:06.20. Rysavy of L&C won the 200 I.M. in 2:05.42, while Jon Westlake of L&C held off Lindberg for second place in 2:06.09.
The 200-yard freestyle relay was claimed by Willamette in 1:35.37. Swimming for the Bearcats were Olmedo, Moore, Augie Meier (Fy., Pebble Beach, CA/Robert Louis Stevenson School), and Ethan Davies (So., Hong Kong/Discovery College). Lewis & Clark finished second in 1:36.54, with Ian Holmberg, Colin Ziegler, Westlake, and Ringel swimming for the Pioneers.
William LaDuca (So., Salem, OR/South Salem HS) took second place in the 100-yard backstroke as he completed the race in 1:00.96. The winner of the 100 back was Holmberg in 59.63 seconds.
The Bearcats grabbed second and third place in the 100-yard breaststroke. The event was won by Westlake for Lewis & Clark., Ka'Olapa Masuko (Fy., Volcano, HI/Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii) of WU placed second in 1:04.35 and Logan Copeland (Sr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS) soon followed in third at 1:05.00.
Willamette will take on Linfield University at the WU Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 27. It will be Senior Day for the Bearcats. The meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. PST.