By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NEWBERG, Ore. -- Robbie Daugherty (Sr., Reno, NV/Damonte Ranch HS) was victorious in two individual men's events for Willamette University, but George Fox University defeated the Bearcats in the men's and women's team standings during a Northwest Conference swimming meet on Saturday, Jan. 22. GFU held off the Bearcats, 92-91, in the men's events, while the Bruins won the women's competition, 115-83.
The Willamette men's team fell to 1-5 overall (1-5 NWC) and the Bearcat women's team dropped to 2-4 on the season (2-4) in the NWC. For George Fox, the men's and women's teams moved to 2-4 overall (2-4 NWC).
Daugherty took first place in the men's 500-yard freestyle and 1,000-yard freestyle. His time in the 500 free was 5:19.43, as he won by 4.32 seconds over Kyle Roberson of GFU, who placed second in 5:23.75. Daugherty swam a time of 10:56.27 to win the 1,000 free.
Other individual event winners for the Willamette men's team were Will Compton (Jr., Portage, MI/Portage Northern HS) in the 200-yard freestyle and Cole Lindberg (Fy., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) in the 200-yard butterfly. Individual victories for the WU women's team were earned by Tatum Good (Fy., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) in the 200-yard backstroke and Sarah Jenner (Fy., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Compton won the men's 200 freestyle with a time of 1:54.17. Zac Celebrado of GFU was second in 1:58.93. Lindberg's winning time in the men's 200 butterfly was 2:05.33. Good registered a time of 2:19.72 in the women's 200 backstroke to lead a 1-2 finish, that also included Jacqueline Hall (Fy., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) in second place at 2:34.47. Jenner won the women's 200 breaststroke in 2:39.70, barely edging out teammate Katherina Cory (So., Dublin, CA/Dublin HS), who grabbed second place in 2:39.89.
Willamette won both of the 400-yard medley relay events as well as the men's 400-yard freestyle relay. In the women's 400 medley relay which opened the meet, WU's time was 4:20.18. Swimming for the Bearcats were Good, Anna Hornbeck (Fy., Bend, OR/Bend HS), Cory, and Alayna Kisiday (Fy., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS). The Bearcats prevailed by 8.25 seconds over the Bruins. Willamette's team of Compton, Ben Nickell (Jr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS), Lindberg, and Keaton Adams (Sr., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) won the men's 400 medley relay in 3;44.29. GFU placed second in the men's medley at 3:48.82.
In the men's 400-yard freestyle relay, the Bearcats took first place by 2.27 seconds behind the efforts of Daugherty, Matthew Hagen (Fy., Fife, WA/Fife HS), Logan Copeland (So., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS), and Gabriel Owen (Jr., Durham, CA/Durham HS). Willamette registered a time of 3.34.21, while GFU took second in 3:36.48.
Kisiday placed second in two individual events for Willamette. She was second in the women's 50-yard freestyle at 26.49 seconds and in the women's 100-yard freestyle in 57.35 seconds. Aspen Monkhouse of George Fox won both events with times of 25.10 in the 50 free and 57.14 in the 100 free.
Cory was second for the WU women in the 200-yard individual medley at 2;24.98. Olivia Gibson of the Bruins won the race in 2:17.88. Min Wei (Sr., Fushun, China/Cascade HS) was second for Willamette in the women's 200-yard butterfly in 2:40.31.
WU took second and third in the men's 100-yard butterfly, as Adams placed second in 54.48 seconds and Nickell placed third in 54.48. Nickell earned second place in the men's 200-yard breaststroke at 2:21.08. Chris Mourich of GFU won the event in 2:18.97. Compton of Willamette was second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:11.60.
The Bearcats will host the College of Idaho and Southwestern Oregon Community College in a meet on Saturday, Jan. 29. Action is set to get underway at 1 p.m. (PST).
