By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Alex Guffey (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), a freshman swimmer at Willamette University, has been chosen as the Northwest Conference Men's Swimming Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts while competing on Jan. 5 and Jan. 12.

It is the second time he has been named Student-Athlete of the Week this season. Guffey previously earned the honor after competing at the CAT Senior Open from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.

Guffey won two events at the Soka Triangular on Jan. 5 and achieved first place in two events against College of Idaho on Jan. 12. He also helped WU take second place in the 200-yard medley relay at Soka and contributed to a win in the 200-yard medley relay against College of Idaho.

During the double dual at Soka, Willamette's men defeated Soka University, 114-95, and fell to Lake Forest College (Illinois), 120-92. The Bearcats defeated College of Idaho one week later, 97-52.

At Soka, Guffey took first place in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:53.56. He also finished first in the 100-yard butterfly in 56.93 seconds, as we won a close race by 0.04 over teammate Andrew Lum (Fr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School).

Guffey swam the anchor leg on the 200 medley relay at Soka, as WU placed second in 1:44.86.

In the dual meet with College of Idaho, Guffey prevailed in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.22 seconds and earned a first place finish in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:01.93.

He provided the anchor leg on the winning 200 medley relay team, with WU registering a time of 1:45.20 against the Yotes. Guffey placed third in the 100-yard backstroke in 59.83 seconds.

Willamette's next meet is set for Friday, Jan. 18 at Pacific University. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. (PST) in Forest Grove, Ore. Afterward, the Bearcats will return home to face Lewis & Clark College at the WU Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day for the Bearcats.