This article was delayed due to problems with the timing system at the WU Natatorium.

By Timothy Walsh, Athletics Communications Writer

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's swimming team and the Whitman College men's swimming team earned wins on Saturday, Nov. 7, in a Northwest Conference dual meet at the Willamette Natatorium.  The Bearcat women's team defeated the Missionaries 116-89, while the Whitman men's team downed Willamette 116-88.

Willamette's women are now 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the NWC. The Bearcat men's team is 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the NWC. The Whitman women's team is 0-4 overall, 0-2 in the NWC, and the Missionaries' men are 2-1 overall, 2-0 in the NWC.

The Willamette women's team took first place in seven of the nine individual events.

Anna Burdine (Fr., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS) won the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle, and Cassie Tallman (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.

Rachel Harvill (Fr., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS) prevailed in the 50-yard freestyle, while Kiley Lin (Fr., Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn HS) took first in the 100-yard backstroke, and Ashlyn Witherwax (So., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) won the 100-yard breaststroke.

Burdine's winning time in the 1,000-yard freestyle was 11:43.91, and she won the 500 freestyle in 5:40.59. Tallman was timed at 2:02.86 to win the 200 freestyle, and Lin finished third in that event at 2:06.85. Tallman registered a time of 1:02.38 to win the 100 butterfly.

In the 50 freestyle, Harvill's time of 26.37 seconds edged out Whitman's Josie Furbershaw time of 26.60 seconds. Jamie Johnson (So., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) placed third in the event with a time of 26.99 seconds, just 0.39 out of second place.

The Bearcats also earned first and third place in the 100 backstroke, with Lin's first place time of 1:01.54 followed by Whitman's Cameo Hlebasko in second at 1:03.44, and Michaela Zuber (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) in third at 1:04.29. Witherwax earned Willamette's final first-place individual finish with her time of 1:08.93 in the 100 breaststroke.

WU also earned first place in the women's 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay. The winning team in the medley relay, which was timed at 1:54.91, included Zuber, Witherwax, Tallman, and Harvill. Taking first place in the freestyle relay in 1:43.66 were Harvill, Zuber, Johnson, and Lin.

For the Willamette men's team, Alika Masei (Jr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) won two events and Shelby Merrill (Jr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) placed first in one event.

Masei finished first in the 100-yard backstroke in 55.80 to win by 0.14 over Jared Sears of Whitman. Masei won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:02.23 Merrill placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:47.11.

Mark Yuvienco (So., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) earned second place in two events. He was second in the 100-yard butterfly in 53.56 seconds and took second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:03.43.

Reuben White (So., Portland, OR/Westview HS) placed second in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:49.57, while Dan Aki (Jr., Union City, CA/James Logan HS) was second in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:34.98.

Whitman won both of the men's relays, defeating a team of Masei, Mykah Fujiwara (Fr., Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School), Aki, and White in the 200-yard medley relay, and besting Willamette's squad of Merrill, Scott Lucero (Fr., Alta Loma, CA/Los Osos HS), Baker Armstrong (Fr., Fresno, CA/Bullard HS), and Yuvienco in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Whitman's winning times were 1:54.91 in the 200 medley relay and 1:28.00 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Willamette will swim again on Friday, Nov. 13, when the Bearcats visit the University of Puget Sound at 6 p.m. (PST).