By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Anna Hornbeck (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS) of Willamette University took second place in the women's 100-yard breaststroke, and Cole Lindberg (So., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) set a Bearcat record while placing fourth in the men's 100-yard butterfly, on the third night of the 2023 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships on Saturday, Feb. 11. The championships are being held at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center, with action concluding on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Hornbeck has placed in the top two of the 100-yard breaststroke twice. Last year, she won the NWC title in the event, edging out Erin McKinney of Whitman College. On Saturday, McKinney took first place in 1:05.44, while Hornbeck was second at 1:06.05. Elinor Glass from the University of Puget Sound placed third in 1:06.65.

In the prelims, Hornbeck attained a time of 1:05.75, which placed here second on Willamette's all-time list in the women's 100-breaststroke. Her time in the final ranks third all-time for the Bearcats. Hornbeck now holds WU's top four times in the event.

Last year, McKinney won the 200-yard breaststroke championship with Hornbeck in second place. The two outstanding swimmers will get another chance to match-up if they reach the Sunday final in this year's 200 breaststroke.

Lindberg set the Willamette record in the men's 100-yard butterfly twice on Saturday. In the preliminary heats, he registered a time of 50.10 seconds, breaking the record of 50.87 seconds set by Derek Ludwig at the NWC Championships in 2020. Lindberg broke the new record just hours later in the championship final as he took fourth place in 49.91 seconds.

"It was an amazing finals session tonight with lots of fast swimming," Willamette Head Swimming Coach Brent Summers said. "This team continues to impress me with their determination and effort. We had great relay and individual swims all around. Congratulations to Anna on her second place finish in the women's 100 breaststroke and swimming the second fastest time in program history. Also, congratulations to Cole for setting the men's 100 butterfly record and being the first men's team swimmer under 50 seconds in that race."

Other WU swimmers who competed in Saturday's championship finals were Tatum Good (So., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) in the women's 100-yard backstroke, Julius Wilhelmi (Jr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) in the men's 200-yard freestyle, and Alayna Kisiday (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) in the women's 200-yard freestyle.

Good and Wilhelmi each placed fifth in their event. Good achieved a time of 1:00.08 in the women's 100 backstroke. She was just 0.23 out of fourth place. Avery Campbell from Linfield University won the race in 57.36 seconds. Wilhelmi's time in the final of the men's 200 freestyle was 1:44.10. Tanner Fillion of Whitman took first place in 1:36.54, as he met the NCAA Division III "A" qualifying standard and set a new NWC record.

Kisiday was sixth in the women's 200 freestyle as she was timed at 1:59.26. She was eighth in the prelims, but moved up two spots as she lowered her time by 0.57 seconds.

Several Bearcats reached the consolation finals and placed ninth through 16th in their events.

Ben Nickell (Sr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS) won the consolation final in the men's 100-yard breaststroke to place ninth overall. His time in the final was 59.83 seconds. Teammate Logan Copeland (Jr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS) was 14th overall in the men's 100 breaststroke after touching out at 1:00.86.

Lindberg, in addition to his fourth place finish in the men's 100-yard butterfly, won the consolation final in the men's 100-yard backstroke in 53.02 seconds to take ninth place overall.

Gwyn Fritz (Jr., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS) placed 11th overall in the women's 200-yard freestyle by completing the consolation final in third place at 1:59.90. Kevin Olmedo (Fy., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS) earned 13th place in the men's 200-yard freestyle, as he recorded a time of 1:48.26. Ethan Davies (Fy., Hong Kong/Discovery College) was 15th in the men's 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:32.47, seven seconds faster than this time in the prelims.

WU placed sixth in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay. Swimming for the Bearcats were Wilhelmi, Lindberg, Olmedo, and Copeland. They completed the relay in 1:27.26.

Team Scores Through Saturday

The top team in the women's standings at the end of Saturday's competition was Linfield with 466 points. Whitman was in second place with 417 points, followed by Pacific Lutheran University in third at 299. Puget Sound was fourth at 270, with Whitworth in fifth at 234, Willamette in sixth at 178, Lewis & Clark College in seventh at 156, George Fox University in eighth at 131, and Pacific University in ninth with 98 points.

Whitman was in first place in the men's team standings, as the Pirates had accumulated 441 points. Whitworth followed in second at 412.5, while Linfield was third at 351. Puget Sound was in fourth place at 232, with Lewis & Clark in fifth at 188.5, Willamette in sixth at 175, and George Fox in seventh with 166 points. Pacific Lutheran held eighth place with 154 points and Pacific was ninth at 89 points.

On Sunday, prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. (PST) with the finals at 4 p.m. The 1,650-yard freestyle events will be held in between the two sessions.