By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- After a season of preparing in practice and dual meets, the Willamette University men's and women's swimming teams are ready to compete at the 2016 Northwest Conference Championships this weekend at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington. The three-day NWC meet will determine champions in individual events and relays, as well as the overall conference team champions.

Willamette enters the competition with many of its swimmers ranked in the top 16 in their respective events. The NWC meet will include preliminary heats each morning, following by championship races at night. The top eight individuals in each event during the prelims will advance to the championships finals, with the next eight finishers in the prelims earning berths in the consolation finals.

Action gets underway with the first preliminary heats on Friday, Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. (PST). Finals in Friday's events will start at 6 p.m. On Saturday, prelims are set to begin at 10 a.m. with finals at 6 p.m. On Sunday, prelims are scheduled for 10 a.m. with finals at 5 p.m.

"The NWC meet is always the highlight of our year," Willamette Head Coach Leslie Shevlin said. "The swimmers work hard during the season for peak performances on these three special days."

The Official NWC Swimming Championships website provides links for live video and results.

Women's Events

For the Willamette women's team, Kiley Lin (Fr., Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn HS) and Cassie Tallman (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) each are ranked in the top eight in three events.

Lin is listed first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.02. She holds a slim lead in the rankings over Jackie Beal of Whitworth University, who is second at 2:09.07. Kaedi Fry of Linfield College is third at 2:10.51.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Lin is ranked second with a school record time of 59.92 seconds set at the Northwest Invitational on Nov. 21, 2015. The leader in the 100 backstroke is Sam Anders from the University of Puget Sound at 59.49 seconds. Beal is listed third at 1:00.40.

The third event with Lin in the top eight is the 100-yard butterfly, where she is ranked sixth. Lin's top time in the 100 butterfly is 1:01.46.

Tallman holds third place in the rankings for the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. In the 200 breaststroke, Tallman has achieved a time of 2:28.83 this season. She holds the Willamette record of 2:27.83, which she set at the 2015 NWC Championships. Tallman's top time of the season in the 200 I.M. is 2:15.64. She holds the WU record of 2:10.32, set last year.

In addition, Tallman is listed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. He best time in the event this season is 1:08.92.

Other rankings for Tallman include 12th in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:02.43 and 15th in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:02.38.

Also ranked in the top eight for the WU women's team are Ashlyn Witherwax (So., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) in the 100-yard breaststroke and Malia Santos (Sr., Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) in the 100-yard butterfly.

Witherwax has recorded a time of 1:08.93 in the 100 breaststroke good for fifth place in the rankings, just .01 behind Tallman. Santos earned a time of 1:01.67 in the 100 butterfly earlier this season. She set the WU record of 59.03 seconds at the NWC Championships last year.

In the 200-yard breaststroke, Witherwax holds the 12th spot. Her top time is 2:33.87.

Several other members of the Willamette women's team are ranked between ninth and 16th in the NWC.

Michaela Zuber (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Sheldon HS) holds 11th place in the rankings for the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.94. Zuber is listed at 14th in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:17.24.

Gabbey Dewson holds 14th place in the 200-yard breaststroke rankings at 2:35.04, giving WU three swimmers in the top 16. In the women's 1,650-yard freestyle, Anna Burdine (Fr., Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier HS) is ranked 15th at 19:39.61 and Kate Harvey (So., Atlantic Beach, FL/Duncan Fletcher HS) is 16th at 19:39.93.

Burdine also is ranked 16th in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 11:43.91.

The Willamette women's team is ranked in the top four in two relays. The Bearcats are third in the 200-yard medley relay, with Lin, Witherwax, Tallman and Rachel Harvill (Fr., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS) combining for a time of 1:53.27. WU is fourth in the 400-yard medley relay. Lin, Witherwax, Tallman and Jamie Johnson (So., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS) have earned a top time of 4:10.12.

Men's Events

On the Willamette men's team, Mark Yuvienco (So., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) is included among the top eight swimmers in three events.

Yuvienco holds second in the 200-yard butterfly after earning a time of 1:56.28. Alex La Rosa of Linfield is listed first at 1:54.53. Seth Villedu of Pacific Lutheran is third at 1:57.33. Yuvienco set Willamette's record in the 200 butterfly at 1:53.86 during the 2015 NWC Championships.

In the 100-yard butterfly, Yuvienco is ranked seventh with a best time of 53.03 seconds. Yuvienco is also seventh in the 400-yard individual medley. His top time in the 400 I.M. is 4:24.10.

Yuvienco is listed ninth in the 500-yard freestyle. He recorded a time of 4:54.44 earlier in the season.

Also for the Bearcat men's team, Alika Masei (Jr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) is eighth in the 200-yard backstroke. Masei't best time this year is 2:00.89. He is the WU record holder with a time of 1:53.82 as a freshman at the 2014 NWC Championships.

Masei holds several additonal top 16 rankings. He is ninth in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:02.50 and is 10th in the 100-yard backstroke at 54.75 seconds. He is 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.69 and is 11th in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:16.87.

Other Bearcat men's swimmers ranked between ninth and 16th in their respective events are Shelby Merrill (Jr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS), Dan Aki (Jr., Union City, CA/James Logan HS), Andrew Lum (Sr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School), Reuben White (So., Portland, OR/Westview HS), Jason Bayang (Jr., Wahiawa, HI/Hoala School) and Mykah Fujiwara (Fr., Kaneohe, HI/Punahou School).

Merrill is listed 11th in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 14th in the 1,650-yard freestyle. His best time in the 1,000 this year is 10:21.08, while he owns a top time of 17;26.55 in the 1,650.

Aki is 12th in the 100-yard butterfly at 54.38 seconds. Aki and Lum are tied for 13th in the 200-yard butterfly, as each has recorded a time of 2:03.45. White is 13th in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:47.80.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Bayang is ranked 14th. His best time is 1:02.01. Fujiwara is listed 15th in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:18.48.

Willamette's top-ranking in for the men's team in the relay events is fifth in the 400-yard medley relay, as the Bearcats have recorded a time of 3:39.97.

Willamette's Expectations

Last year, Willamette registered some of its top times at the NWC Championships. The Bearcats set six school records during the meet.

"In the past, we have had great success with dropping time at the end of the season. I expect a similar result this year," Shevlin said. "Our entire team has worked harder than ever. We are excited to see how our top swimmers and relays will finish in the field and we are equally excited to see everyone have a fast meet."

In addition, Shevlin noted that the addition of Assistant Coach Brent Summers has made a big difference for the Bearcats.

"With the addition of Coach Summers to our staff, we have been able to try some new things with our training and have supported our student-athletes more inside and outside of the water," Shevlin commented. "We are one team with many individual goals, that is the sport of swimming. I love that we are also a team that is excited to see Willamette as high in the team rankings as possible."