By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Rachel Harvill (So., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS) took second place in two sprints for the women's team and Colin Hakeman (Fr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) placed second in two distance races for the men's team, as Willamette University competed against Whitman College in Northwest Conference swimming on Friday, Nov. 4. Whitman won the women's competition, 132-70. The Blues defeated the Bearcats in the men's competition, 134-69.
Whitman is 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the NWC in both men's and women's swimming. Both of Willamette's teams are 0-1 on the season, 0-1 in the NWC.
Harvill achieved second place in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. In the 50 free, she registered a time of 26.28 seconds. Tai Hallstein of Whitman won the event in 24.44 seconds. Harvill edged out Jill Low of Whitman, who finished in 26.30 seconds for third place.
In the 100 free, Harvill was timed at 57.37 seconds. Tara Stahlecker won the 100 free for the Blues with a time of 55.69 seconds.
Hakeman was second in the 1,000-yard freestyle early in the meet and added a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle later in the evening. His time in the 1,000 free was 10:32.37, with teammate Shelby Merrill (Sr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS) in third place at 10:38.58. Cole Weinstein of Whitman won the 1,000 free in 10:06.25.
The 500 free was won by Noah Wechter for the Blues in 5:02.49. Hakeman's time in second place was 5:04.85. Merrill was third with a time of 5:07.02, as he touched out just 0.02 in front of Lucas Bergeson from Whitman.
Four other Bearscat swimmers attained one second place finish in an individual event.
Cassie Tallman (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) from Willamette was second in the women's 200-yard breaststroke, as she completed the race in 2:31.78. Becca Hoffman of Whitman took first place in 2:30.19. Ashlyn Witherwax (Jr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) of WU was third in 2;34.81.
In the women's 200-yard backstroke, Niki Kates (Fr., Truckee, CA/Forest Charter School) of Willamette was second at 2:18.25. Jensine Rasmussen was third for the Bearcats in 2:21.51. Whitman's Mara Selznick won the race in 2:09.43.
Mark Yuvienco (Jr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) provided WU with second place in the men's 200-yard butterfly. His time was 2:01.72. Derek Ludwig (Fr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS), also from Willamette, was third in 2:06.33. Sean Terada won the event for Whitman in 1:58.92.
Willamette's Alika Masei (Sr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) placed second in the men's 200-yard breaststroke. He completed the event in 2:16.89. Weinstein of Whitman took first place by 1.53 seconds with a time of 2:15.36.
The Bearcats will swim again on Saturday, Nov. 5, when they take on Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Action is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (PDT).
