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

TACOMA, WASH. -- Willamette University's swimming teams competed at the Northwest Conference Relay Meet at Wallace Pool on Saturday, Oct. 31. The event was hosted by the University of Puget Sound, which has a short course pool with metric measurements.

Whitworth University won the men's and women's combined title with 93 points and 11 victories in 15 events. Puget Sound was second with 72 points, while Linfield College took third with 46 points. Pacific Lutheran University was fourth at 41, Pacific University was fifth at 27, Lewis & Clark College was sixth at 25 and Willamette placed seventh at 23.

The Bearcats registered their highest finishes in the 600-meter freestyle relay.

Willamette's women placed third in the event with a time of 7:17.83. The 'Cats finished just under one second in front of Pacific Lutheran in fourth at 7:18.80. The race was won by Whitworth in 6:41.35. WU's swimmers were Lauren Ballinger (Fr., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS), Whitney Pryce (Sr., Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury HS), and Jenna Larrow (Sr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS), with each team member completing 200 meters.

In the men's 600-meter race, the Bearcats took fourth in 7:05.66, as WU finished 14 one-hundredths of a second before Pacific Lutheran, which placed fifth at 7:05.80. Whitworth was victorious in the event with a time of 6:01.41. Swimming for Willamette were Jacob Munson-McGee (So., Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces HS), Ian McGahan (Fr., Tacoma, WA/Stadium HS) and Kevin Tangeman (Sr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS).

The Bearcat women's team placed fourth in the 900-meter freestyle relay and was fifth in the 300-meter medley relay. WU took sixth in the 300-meter breaststroke relay. In the 900 free relay, WU's fourth place time of 11:20.33 was 0.47 seconds faster that Pacific Lutheran's fifth place time of 11:20.87.

Willamette's men took fifth place in the 300-meter medley relay in 3:33.09 and also finished fifth in the 300-meter butterfly relay in 3:23.68. The Bearcats were sixth in the 300-meter backstroke relay.

The top finish for Willamette in the mixed events was fifth place in the 400-meter freestyle relay in 4:13.94. Team members in the relay were Munson-McGee, Ballinger, Janelle Higashida (So., Kaneohe, HI/Hawaii Baptist Academy) and Michael McGeehan (So., Moscow, ID/Moscow HS). The mixed events featured two men and two women on each relay team.

Willamette will open NWC dual match play on Friday, Nov. 6, when the Bearcats host Lewis & Clark College. Meet time at the WU Natatorium is set for 6 p.m. (PST).