By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Shelby Merrill (Sr., Thousand Oaks, CA/Westlake HS), Jensine Rasmussen (Fr., Tacoma, WA/Stadium HS) and Mark Yuvienco (Jr., San Jose, CA/Bellarmine College Prep) each won an event for Willamette University during a Northwest Conference dual meet at Linfield College on Saturday, Jan. 28. Merrill won the men's 1,650-yard freestyle, while Rasmussen took first place in the women's 400-yard individual medley, and Yuvienco placed first in the men's 100-yard butterfly.

Linfield won the team competition. The Wildcats defeated the Bearcat men's team, 130-75. Linfield's women downed Willamette, 138-67.

The Willamette men fell to 3-5 on the season, 2-5 in the NWC. The Bearcat women's team moved to 0-8 overall, 0-7 in the NWC. Both of Linfield's teams improved to 5-2 on the season, 5-2 in the NWC.

Merrill took first place in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:08.24 after moving in front early in the race. He won by 6.83 seconds over Joshua Luffred of Linfield, who took second in 17:15.07. Merrill led a 1-3-4 finish for the Bearcats.

The smallest of margins prevented Merrill from winning a second event, as he placed second in the men's 500-yard freestyle by just 0.01. David Flores won the race for the Wildcats in 4:56.28. Merrill finished in 4:56.29.

Yuvienco won the men's 100-yard butterfly while leading a 1-2 finish for the Bearcats. He led the field in 52.93 seconds. Derek Ludwig (Fr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) of Willamette was second in 53.99 seconds. Juan Vidal of Linfield placed third in 54.52.

Rasmussen prevailed in the women's 400-yard individual medley, as she completed all four strokes in 5:04.88. Stacie Cuadro from Linfield was second just over 12 seconds later in 5:16.95. Anna Burdine (So., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS) of Willamette placed third in 5:17.12. WU took 1-3-4 in the event.

Kate Harvey (Jr., Atlantic Beach, FL/Duncan Fletcher HS) and Cassie Tallman (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) each placed second in two individual events for the Bearcats. Harvey was second in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle in 19:43.30 and took second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:45.67.

In addition to Harvey's second place result in the 1,650, Willamette also received third place from Burdine (So., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS) in 19:49.32. Michaelyn Laughlin (Sr., San Jose, CA/Leland HS) set a personal record by 35.88 seconds with a time of 20:48.84.

Tallman was second in the women's 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.16. She also finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.95, just 0.58 behind the winner, Kaedi Fry of Linfield, whose time was 1:09.37. Ashlyn Witherwax (Jr., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) of WU was third in 1:10.82.

Niki Kates (Fr., Truckee, CA/Forest Charter School) of Willamette placed second in the women's 100-yard backstroke. She completed the race in 1:03.62. Evete Dow won the event in 1:01.13.

For the Bearcat men's team, Alika Masei (Jr., Salem, OR/West Salem HS) earned second place in both the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 100 backstroke, Masei's time was 55.39 seconds. Teammate Jason Bayang (Sr., Wahiawa, HI/Hoala School) finished third in 56.24 seconds. Neirton Oliveira of Linfield placed first in 54.54 seconds.

Masei was clocked at 1:00.06 in the 100 breaststroke. Victor Brasil won the race for Linfield in 58.80 seconds.

In the men's 400-yard individual medley, Willamette's Josh Bumgarner (Sr., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS) took second place in 4:45.72.

Both of the 200-yard freestyle relays at the end of the meet were won by Linfield with margins of less than two seconds. In the women's 200 free relay, the Wildcats were timed at 1:42.79, while Willamette earned a time of 1:44.77. In the men's 200 free relay, Linfield won in 1:29.52 and the Bearcats finished in 1:31.98.

The WU women's 200 relay team included Jamie Johnson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale HS), Kristi Miyakawa (Jr., Los Alamitos, CA/Los Alamitos HS), Harvey and Rachel Harvill (So., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS). Swimming on the Bearcat men's 200 relay team were Ludwig, Colin Hakeman (Fr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS), Merrill and Yuvienco.

Up next for Willamette are the three days of the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships, set for Feb. 10-12 in Federal Way, Washington. The meet will be held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.