By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications, (503) 370-6110

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Willamette University swept past Pacific University in men's and women's swimming in a dual meet on Friday, Jan. 24. The Bearcat men's team defeated the Boxers, 165-17, while the Willamette women's team outscored the Boxers, 133-53. WU's men upped their record to 2-5 on the season, 2-4 in the Northwest Conference. The Bearcat women improved to 1-6 overall, 1-5 in the NWC. Both of Pacific's teams fell to 0-6 on the season, all against NWC opponents.

The Bearcats will return to the Willamette campus for the Senior Day meet on Saturday, Jan. 25. A ceremony honoring Willamette's eight senior swimmers will begin at 12:45 p.m. (PST), with the dual meet between the Bearcats and the University of Puget Sound set to start at 1 p.m.

"This evening's meet against Pacific was a good test to see where we are at coming out of our heavy training. We had some great races on both the men's and women's side, and I was really excited about how much effort we gave tonight. I'm looking forward to our Senior Day meet tomorrow to celebrate their contributions to our program and their accomplishments."
— Willamette Head Coach Brent Summers

Thirteen Bearcats won at least one individual event. Earning first place in two individual events were Ben Fritz (Jr., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS), Niki Kates (Sr., Truckee, CA/Forest Charter School), and Ben Hedman (Sr., Davis, CA/Davis HS).

Fritz took first place in the men's 100-yard freestyle and the men's 200-yard freestyle. His winning time in the 100 freestyle was 51.13 seconds. In the 200 freestyle, Fritz was timed at 1:53.12, as he edged out teammate Greg Wells (So., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS), who placed second in 1:53.32.

Kates prevailed in the women's 200-yard individual medley and the women's 100-yard freestyle. In the 200 I.M., she registered a time of 2:21.54. Jensine Rasmussen (Sr., Tacoma, WA/Stadium HS) of WU was second in 2:23.86. Kates grabbed the win in the 100 freestyle in 1:00.46.

Hedman achieved his victories in the men's 200-yard individual medley and the men's 200-yard butterfly. He won the 200 I.M. in 2:05.36, with Derek Ludwig (Sr., Moraga, CA/Campolindo HS) of Willamette taking second place in 2:05.99. Hedman finished first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.56.

In the distance events, winners for Willamette were Britt Shunn-Mitchell (Jr., Logan UT/Logan HS) in the women's 1,000-yard freestyle, Will Compton (Fy., Portage, MI/Portage Northern HS) in the men's 1,000-yard freestyle, Olivia Frenkel (Fy, Fairfield, CA/Angelo Rodriguez HS) in the women's 500-yard freestyle, and Daniel Fang (Jr., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Catholic HS) in the men's 100-yard freestyle. Shunn Mitchell's winning time in the 1,000 was 12:24.16. Compton won the 1,000 in 10:26.75. Frenkel recorded a time of 5:38.81 in the 500, while Fang's swim in the 500 was timed at 5:11.31.

Other individual event winners for the WU women's team were Gwynneth Fritz (Fy., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS), Rasmussen, and Cameron Taggesell (Jr., Sonoma, CA/Sonoma Valley HS). Fritz placed first in the 50-yard freestyle in 27.16 seconds. Rasmussen won the 200-yard backstroke at 2:20.10, as she finished just in front of teammate Corinne Pierson (So., Port Townsend, WA/Port Townsend HS), who was second in 2:20.88. Taggesell was victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:38.02.

Additional winners in men's individual events were Keaton Adams (So., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS), Ludwig, and Ben Nickell (Fy., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS). Adams bested the field in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.70 seconds. Evan Segimoto (Jr., Alamo, CA/The Athenian School) of Willamette placed a very close second in 23.78 seconds. Ludwig took first in the 200-yard backstroke by completing the race in 2:07.76. Nickell registered a time of 2:29.13 to win the 200-yard breaststroke.

Willamette won all four relay events. In the women's 400-yard medley relay, the Bearcats earned a time of 4:18.49, with Pierson, Taggesell, Min Wei (So., Fushun, China/Cascade HS) and Frenkel forming the relay team. Willamette swam unopposed in the men's 400-yard medley relay, and were timed at 3;52 54. Swimming for WU were Will Reeves (Fy., Kirkland, WA/Home Schooled), Nickell, Ludwig and Ben Fritz.

In the women's 400-yard freestyle relay, the Bearcats registered a winning time of 3:44.73. Swimming for WU were Frenkel, Rasmussen, Kates and Wei. The men's 400-yard freestyle relay was won by Willamette's team of Fang, Jacob Hulti (Sr., Astoria, OR/Astoria HS), Alex Hougan (Sr., Olympia, WA/Olympia HS) and Wells in 3:27.07. They won by 0.44 over another Willamette team, as Compton, Hedman, Adams and Segimoto were clocked at 3:27.51.