By Sara Elcano, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's and women's swimming teams hosted Mills College (Calif.) and the College of Idaho in a tri-meet on Friday, Nov. 5. Mills competed in the women's events, while College of Idaho participated in the men's events and the women's events.

The Bearcats edged Mills College on the women's side, as WU outscored the Cyclones, 58-30. The College of Idaho Lady Yotes slipped by Willamette, 49-46, and also downed Mills, 68-25. In men's action, the College of Idaho defeated Willamette, 117-39.

Willamette earned several first place finishes during the meet.

Lauren Ballinger (So., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) captured first place in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Ballinger posted a time of 2:03.64 in the 200 free and completed the the 100-yard freestyle in 57.02 seconds.

"Lauren had a great meet for us tonight," said Head Coach Leslie Shevlin. "She won two events and continues to swim well for us."

Ballinger was also the anchor on the 200-yard medley relay team that finished first with a time of 1:59.89. Sylvie Peterson (Fr., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS), Erin Parkinson (Fr., Everson, WA/Ferndale HS) and Kayla Kosaki (So., Hilo, HI/Waiakea HS) also competed in the relay.

Parkinson also earned two individual first place finishes for the Bearcats. The freshman swam a 5:39.57 in the 500-yard freestyle and a 1:14.18 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Peterson won the 100-yard butterfly and the 50-yard freestyle for WU. She won the 100 fly with a time of 1:03.09, edging Lindsay Tice of Mills by less than two seconds. Peterson captured first place in the 50 free by swimming a time of 25.69 seconds.

On the men's side, Chris Whitehead (Fr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) swam to a first place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Whitehead recorded a time of 1:11.12 and beat the second place swimmer by more than 20 seconds.

"Chris swam very well for us. His time in the 100 breaststroke was close to his best time ever," added Shevlin. "Erin Parkinson and Austin Williams had an awesome meet for Willamette."

The Willamette women now have a 1-1 overall season record while the men are 0-1. The Bearcats will be back in the water on Friday, Nov. 12 when they host the University of Puget Sound in a Northwest Conference dual meet, starting at 6 p.m. (PST).