|
| Photo by Ryan Freeman, '03 |
In January, the Whitworth men's swim team defeated rival University of Puget Sound to win its 64th consecutive Northwest Conference dual meet. Also this year, the men's team won its seventh consecutive men's Northwest Conference swimming championship - Whitworth's longest streak of conference titles in any sport.
Nineteen event records fell during the 2009 NWC championship meet, held in February at the King County Aquatic Center, in Federal Way, Wash. Sophomore Michael Woodward won three freestyle events in meet record time and was the Co-outstanding Men's Swimmer of the Meet. Freshman Rory Buck, a native of South Africa who competed at the South African Olympic Trials in 2007, overcame a severe respiratory illness to edge out defending champion Paul Hughes from UPS in the 200 breaststroke.
Woodward, Buck, junior Kris Asleson, and senior Justin Brandler closed the NWC Championships by setting a new meet record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Brandler, the men's team captain, concluded a personal streak when he touched the wall for the last time: he is one of three siblings, along with sisters Jennifer, '02, and Emily, '05, who have competed for Pirates swim teams over an 11-year span.
Meanwhile, in one of the closest meets in NWC history, the women's swim team came in second behind the UPS women. Junior Natalie Turner was the Outstanding Women's Swimmer of the Meet for the third straight season after sweeping the 200, 500, and 1,650-yard freestyles, all in NWC record time. Senior Brittany Gresset closed her swimming career by breaking her own meet record time and becoming a threetime conference champion of the 50-yard freestyle and winning the 100-yard freestyle for the third straight season.
Woodward, Buck, Turner, and sophomore Ashley Lecoq competed at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., in March. Buck placed 12th in the 200-yard breaststroke, breaking the previous Whitworth and NWC record. Turner finished sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle, breaking her own Whitworth and NWC record. She also placed 11th in the 500 free, breaking the Whitworth record, and placed fourth in the 200 free. Turner has scored in all nine of the individual events she has entered during her career at the NCAA championships.
|
