Both Men and Women win For Second Time Ever
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Whitworth University’s swimming teams took control from the opening event on Sunday night and went on to sweep the team titles at the 2010 Northwest Conference Championships held at the King County Aquatic Center. The Pirate men pulled away to win by well over 100 points and claim their eighth consecutive conference title. The Whitworth women held off defending champion University of Puget Sound to win a second title in the last three years. It is the second time in school history that both of Whitworth's teams won in the same season. The first came in 2008. Kalen Darling opened the night by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:06.83, his third individual victory of the meet. He led a first-fourth-fifth finish for the Pirates that pushed the team’s lead to near 100 points. Matt Ross was fourth in 17:01.93 and Dan Neal was fifth (17:21.64). Rory Buck demolished his own Northwest Conference record while winning the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:01.60 while teammate Daniel Bergman was second (2:09.61). Whitworth then finished the meet with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:07.87 that was just off the meet record. Buck led off the relay, followed by Kris Asleson, Darling and Michael Woodward. Puget Sound’s Jackson Kowalski earned his third straight win in the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA provisional time of 1:52.41. But Tom Mill picked up important points for the Pirates with his fourth place finish (2:06.67). Logger Aleksander Jeremic led a 1-2 finish for UPS in the 200-yard butterfly with a winning time of 1:55.23. But Michael Locatel was fourth in 1:58.96 and Kellen Pacheco was fifth in 2:01.45, giving the Pirates key points in the event. Dominic Rieniets of Linfield capped a brilliant NWC championship career by winning the 100-yard freestyle in 46.05, just edging defending champion Michael Woodward of Whitworth (46.18). Rieniets and Darling shared individual high-point honors and were named Co-Outstanding Men’s Swimmers of the Meet. It was Rieniets’ third such honor in his career. Jennifer Blomme of Whitman was voted by her colleagues as the 2010 NWC Men’s Coach of the Year. The final men’s team scores: Whitworth 724.5, Puget Sound 611, Whitman 607, Linfield 365, Lewis & Clark 276, Pacific (Ore.) 248, Pacific Lutheran 245.5, Willamette 1. Just as they had on Friday, Whitworth’s women used a huge first event to open a lead that was too big for the defending champion Loggers to overcome. Natalie Turner earned her fourth career win in the 1,650 freestyle with a meet record time of 17:05.80. The Pirates finished first-second-third-fifth in the event to build a 70-point lead. Christine DeHaven was second in 17:44.03, Abby Pavelko was third (17:49.98), and Kara Fisher finished fifth (18:27.30) while competing in one of the early afternoon heats. Turner’s win capped a perfect career for the Pirate senior. She won the 200, 500, and 1,650-yard freestyle events all four of her years, retiring unbeaten in 12 NWC individual events. She is the NWC meet and NWC all-time record-holder in all three events. Jennifer Benson gave Whitworth its second individual event win on the night by coming from behind over the final 50 and touching out Puget Sound’s Katie Barton in the 100 freestyle, 53.55 – 53.56. It was the closest finish of the three-day meet. The Pirates’ Ashley Locoq earned her third individual victory of the meet by winning the 200 butterfly in 2:05.98. Danielle Douvikas took fourth (2:13.87) in the event, while Rachel Longton was sixth (2:17.46). Turner, Benson and Lecoq were joined by DeHaven on the winning 400 freestyle relay, rolling to a five second victory in 3:52.59. Tracy Wormwood of Puget Sound led a 1-2 Logger finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:23.12. Defending champion Sierra Phillips was second. Anna Case finished fifth (2:31.66) and Marissa Koon was sixth (2:33.01) for the Pirates, giving Whitworth key points in a strong event for UPS. Cat Menkel-Lawrence of Lewis & Clark gave the Pioneers their second individual win of the meet. She won the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:07.77. Makayla Palmer took fourth (2:13.54), Devon Tursick finished sixth (2:14.32) and Stephanie McFarland finished eighth (2:18.06) for the Bucs. Turner and Lecoq were the women’s individual high point winners and were named the Co-Outstanding Women’s Swimmers of the Meet. It is the fourth such honor of Turner’s career. No other NWC swimmer in history has won more than two such awards. Lewis & Clark’s Chris Fantz was voted by the league’s coaches as 2010 Women’s Coach of the Year. The 2010 NCAA Division III championship meet will be held March 17-20 at the University of Minnesota. Go to Athletics Home Page > Swimming > Sports Releases > |
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