Pirate Men Claim 71st NWC Win in a Row

Whitworth Swimming vs. Puget Sound Whitworth women 135, Puget Sound 126 Whitworth men 145, Puget Sound 107

Natalie Turner

Michael Woodward

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth University closed the 2009-10 swimming dual meet season in impressive fashion, sweeping visiting Puget Sound on Saturday at the Whitworth Aquatic Center. The Pirate women pulled out a hard-fought 135-126 victory over the Loggers, while the Whitworth men defeated UPS 145-107 to claim their 71st consecutive Northwest Conference dual meet victory.

The Pirates complete the dual meet season with overall records of 7-1 and NWC marks of 7-0. The Logger women finish 6-2, 6-1 and the Logger men are 5-3, 5-2.

Whitworth's women won nine of the 14 events, overcoming a great effort by the Loggers on the relays. Puget Sound finished 1-2 in the opening 200-yard medley relay and also won the closing 200-yard freestyle relay, outscoring the Pirates 28-6 in the two relay races.

But in between the Pirates used four different multiple event winners to claim nine of the 11 individual races.

Natalie Turner led the way, finishing first three times. She won the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.36), 100-yard freestyle (54.13) and 500-yard freestyle (5:12.51).

Abby Pavelko got the Pirates on the board with a win in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 18:04.94. She then won the final individual event, the 400-yard individual medley in 4:44.88, the best time in the Northwest Conference this season.

Ashley Lecoq posted two conference-best times while winning the 200-yard butterfly (2:11.61) and the 100-yard butterfly (58.78).

Jennifer Benson pulled a mild upset to win the 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.18, then sprinted to a win in the 50-yard freestyle (25.28).

Sierra Phillips led a 1-2-3 Logger finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.13), while Tracy Wormwood led the same kind of sweep in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.73) for UPS. Cait Farry took the 200-yard backstroke in 2:14.74.

In terms of total races won, the men's meet was more competitive as Whitworth won eight races and UPS won six. In terms of total points, Whitworth won by a wider margin thanks to five races where the Pirates went 1-2-3 or 1-2.

Michael Woodward led all swimmers with three individual victories for the Bucs. He won the 200 freestyle (1:49.78), 100 freestyle (47.65) and 500 freestyle (4:53.73), all events in which he is the defending NWC champion.

Aleksander Jeremic, a freshman from Macedonia, won twice for Puget Sound. He took the 200 butterfly (1:58.87) and 100 butterfly (52.33), outdualing Whitworth's Rory Buck in the second event.

Whitworth's Kalen Darling and Puget Sound's Jackson Kowalski had a pair of backstroke showdowns. Kowalski won the 100 distance in 53.19, while Darling took the 200 in 1:54.09. Darling went on to an easy victory in the 400 I.M. (4:09.92).

Buck ended up racing to a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.21. Quinton Darling won the 200 breaststroke for the Bucs in 2:12.29. Matt Ross took home a win in the 1,650 freestyle (17:29.99).

Adam Ganz sprinted to a win in the 50 free for the Loggers (22.39). He also anchored the winning 200 medley relay for UPS. The Loggers closed the meet with a win in the 200 free relay as well.

Both teams expect to finish very highly at the 2010 Northwest Conference championships in two weeks at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington. The Whitworth men are aiming for an eighth conference title in a row, while the UPS women look to defend their 2009 championship.

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