By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
TACOMA, Wash. -- The Willamette University men's and women's swimming teams fell to strong teams from Pacific Lutheran University on Friday, Nov. 2. PLU won the men's competition, 138-67, and the Lutes downed WU in the women's competition, 160-45. It was the first dual meet of the season for both teams. Pacific Lutheran's squads each moved to 1-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Northwest Conference. Willamette's teams fell to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the NWC.
Willamette's men won two events. Colin Hakeman (Jr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) won the 400-yard individual medley and Ben Fritz (So., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS) took first place in the 500-yard freestyle. The Bearcats also earned several strong second place finishes.
"The meet was a good chance for us to see where we are at against a top team in PLU," Willamette Head Coach Brent Summers said. "I'm pleased with how we raced and the effort we raced with."
Hakeman won the men's 400 I.M. by completing the multi-stroke event in 4:26.02. He led a 1-2 finish for the Bearcats, as Ben Hedman (So., Davis, CA/Davis HS) grabbled second place at 4:27.41. Hakeman also placed second in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:40.99 and was third in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:06.35. In the 1,000 he finished just 5.86 seconds behind Bradley Jerome of PLU, who won the event in 10:35.13.
In the men's 500 free, Fritz reached the finish in 5:05.31 for first place. Jackson Curtis of Pacific Lutheran took second in 5:06.20 and Hakeman touched out 0.15 later for third place.
"We had some great swims today, highlighted by Hakeman's and Fritz's wins on the men's side and by some close finishes on the women's," Summers commented.
In the men's 100-yard butterlfy, Derek Ludwig (Jr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) achieved second place in 55.81 seconds. Seth Koivisto won the race for the Lutes in 55.05 seconds.
Rachel Harvill (Jr., Alamo, CA/Monte Vista HS) of WU placed second in the women's 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.28 seconds. Lauren Kearney from PLU took first place in 25.69 seconds.
Willamette received a 2-3 finish from Niki Kates (So., Truckee, CA/Forest Charter School) and Kiley Lin (Sr./Jr., Palo Alto, CA/Henry M. Gunn HS) in the women's 100-yard backstroke. Kiyomi Kishaba of Pacific Lutheran was the winner in 1:02.16. Kates earned second in 1:05.2 and was soon followed by Lin in third at 1:05.65.
The women's 500-yard freestyle included a third place result for Anna Burdine (Sr., Seattle, WA/Mount Rainier HS). Burdine's time was 5:53.31.
Relay swimmers for the Bearcats placed second in the women's 200-yard medley relay to open the meet and took second in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay to end the meet.
Swimming for WU in the women's 200-yard medley relay were Kates, Min Wei (Fr., Fushun, China/Cascade HS), Lin and Harvill. They earned a time of 1:57.43. Pacific Lutheran's relay team of Kishaba, Whitney Mundle, Bailey Hamilton, and Kearney placed first in the race at 1:53.65.
In the men's 200-yard freestyle relay, PLU took first place in 1:28.24 and Willamette was second in 1:35.25. Competing for the Bearcats were Daniel Fang (So., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Catholic HS), Alexander Hougan (Jr., Olympia, WA/Olympia HS), Jacob Hulti (Jr., Astoria, OR/Astoria HS), and Evan Segimoto (So., Alamo, CA/The Athenian School). PLU's relay team included Jacob Goodman, Phillip Hecksel, Elijah Singstad, and Hayden Mortensen.
Willamette's next competition will be a dual meet against Whitman College at the WU Natatorium on Friday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. (PST). It will be Willamette's first home dual meet of the season.
Big Moment of the Meet for Willamette
Men's swimmer Colin Hakeman won the 400-yard
individual medley, placed second in the 1,000-yard
freestyle and was third in the 500-yard freestyle
against Pacific Lutheran. The big moment was his
win in the 400 I.M., as he led a 1-2 finish with WU
teammate Ben Fritz. Hakeman won the race with
a time of 4:26.02. Fritz was second in 4:27.41.