By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Anna Hornbeck (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS) won the women's 200-yard breaststroke for her second career Northwest Conference title on the final evening of the 2023 NWC Swimming Championships at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center on Sunday, Feb. 12. Cole Lindberg, who set Willamette's school record while placing fourth in the men's 100-yard butterfly on Saturday, established a new school record in the men's 200-yard butterfly on Sunday, as he took third place.
The winning time for Hornbeck in the 200-yard breaststroke set a school record at 2:20.08. She won by 3.77 seconds over Erin McKinney from Whitman, who placed second at 2:23.95. McKinney edged out Hornbeck for first place in the women's 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday, while Hornbeck took second place.
Hornbeck's time may ultimately qualify her for the NCAA Division III National Championships. The time in the NWC final was lower than the "B" qualifying time and was lower than the cutoff time for last year's national meet. NCAA berths will be announced later.
At the NWC Championships last year, Hornbeck won the women's 100-meter breaststroke title with a school record time of 1:05.11.
Lindberg's time in the championship final of the 200-yard butterfly was 1:53.40. He broke Willamette's previous record of 1:53.46 set by Mark Yuvienco at the NWC Championships in 2017. In Sunday's race, Lindberg trailed only two swimmers, winner Benjamin Simpson of Linfield University, who won the event in 1:49.66 with a "B" qualifying standard and Isaiah Ross of Whitworth University, who was second at 1:52.46.
"Words cannot accurately describe the emotions and thoughts as we wrap up the 2023 NWC Championships," Willamette Head Swimming Coach Brent Summers said. "This team swam incredibly well and I cannot credit them enough for their efforts and swims this weekend."
It was a successful final day for the Bearcats. In addition to Hornbeck and Lindberg, other Willamette swimmers who competed in the championship finals on Sunday were Sarah Jenner (So., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) in the women's 200-yard breaststroke, Ben Nickell (Sr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS) in the men's 200-yard breaststroke, Julius Wilhelmi (Jr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS) in the men's 100-yard freestyle, and Tatum Good (So., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) in the women's 200-yard backstroke.
Jenner took fifth place in the women's 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:27.31 as she completed the race four spots behind Hornbeck. Jenner was 0.31 out of fourth place and 0.41 out of third place. In the men's 200-yard breaststroke, Nickell registered a sixth place result as he was timed at 2:11.73 in the final.
Wilhelmi claimed sixth place in the men's 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.90 seconds in the championship final. He was 0.27 behind the fifth place finisher and just 0.43 out of fourth place. Good was sevneth in the women's 200-yard backstroke. She swam a time of 2:13.05 during the final, just 0.58 out of sixth and 0.29 in front of seventh place.
WU swimmers in the consolation finals on Sunday were Alayna Kisiday (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) in the women's 100-yard freestyle, Logan Copeland (Jr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS) in the men's 200-yard breaststroke, Ava Reich (Fy., Reno, NV/Robert McQueen HS) in the women's 200-yard butterfly, and Kevin Olmedo (Fy., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS) in the men's 100-yard freestyle.
Kisiday won the consolation final in the women's 100-yard freestyle in 54.25 seconds for night place overall. Copeland earned a time of 2:17.95 to place 12th overall in the men's 200-yard breaststroke. Reich completed the consolation final in the women's 200-yard butterfly in 2:34.18 to achieve 12th place overall. Olmedo took 13th place overall in the men's 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.57 seconds in the consolation final.
Jenner placed eighth in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle while Ethan Davies (Fy., Hong Kong/Discovery College) took 15th in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. The 1,650 freestyle events were held in heats against the clock on Sunday in between the preliminary session in the morning and the finals session in the evening.
Willamette's 400-yard freestyle relay teams both placed fifth. In the women's 400 freestyle relay, WU's swimmers were Gwyn Fritz (Jr., Los Gatos, CA/Leigh HS), Good, Jacqueline Hall (So., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS), and Kisiday. They registered a time of 3:41.36. Willamette's team in the men's 400 freestyle relay included Wilhelmi, Olmedo, Lindberg, and Copeland, who combined for a time of 3:11.97.
Final Team Standings
The NWC women's team championship was won by Linfield with 693 points. Whitman placed second with 638 points, while the University of Puget Sound was third at 417. Pacific Lutheran University followed in fourth place at 368, with Whitworth in fifth at 341, Willamette in sixth place at 277, and Lewis & Clark College in seventh at 202. George Fox University finished eighth at 180 and Pacific University was ninth with 133 points.
Whitman earned the men's team championship with 625 points for a relatively narrow win over Whitworth, which took second place at 610.5 points. Linfield placed third at 534, while Puget Sound was fourth at 342, Lewis & Clark placed fifth at 281.5, and Willamette took sixth at 256. Pacific Lutheran was seventh at 237, George Fox was eighth at 228, and Pacific placed ninth at 113.
