By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Julius Wilhelmi (Jr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS), Tatum Good (So., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy), and Alayna Kisiday (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) each took first place in two events for Willamette University in a dual swimming meet against George Fox University on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the WU Natatorium. Wilhelmi won the men's 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, while Good grabbed first in the women's 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, and Kisiday placed first in the women's 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle.
The Bearcats defeated the Bruins in the women's team standings, as Willamette outscored George Fox, 121-75. GFU won the men's competition, 118-78. Willamette's women improved to 2-6 on the season, 2-6 in the NWC. The Bearcat men also ended the meet at 2-6 overall, 2-6 in the NWC. George Fox slipped to 1-5 overall, 1-5 in the NWC in women's swimming. The GFU men upped their record to 3-3 overall, 3-3 in the NWC.
"Today was a great meet for us to finish off our conference dual meet schedule," Willamette Head Swimming Coach Brent Summers said. "The women's team picked up their second win of the weekend (after defeating L&C 115-85 on Friday) and the men's team had another very competitive meet. We took another positive step forward today with the opportunities presented to us. It's an exciting time of the season as we enter our Peak Performance phase and gear up for the conference championship meet."
Overall, the Bearcats won nine of the 18 individual events and three of the four relays. In addition to Wilhelmi, Good, and Kisiday, other individual event winners for the Bearcats were Sarah Jenner (So., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) and Anna Hornbeck (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS) from the women's team and Cole Lindberg (So., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) from the men's team. Relay wins were recorded by the Bearcats in the men's and women's 200-yard medley relay events and the women's 200-yard freestyle relay.
Wilhelmi claimed first place in the men's 50-yard freestyle in 22.19 seconds as he finished 0.34 in front of Levi Gibson of GFU. Wilhelmi registered a winning time of 49.19 in the men's 100-yard freestyle. Teammate Kevin Olmedo (Fy., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS) was second in the men's 100 free at 50.40 seconds.
Good led the way in the women's 50-yard freestyle with a time of 27.32 seconds. She narrowly edged out Ellie Opdahl of the Bruins, who placed second in 27.36. In the women's 100-yard backstroke, Good took first place in 1:04.80, while Emma Noffsinger (Fy., Arvada, CO/Northglenn HS) of WU was second in 1:07.32.
Kisiday won the women's 100-yard freestyle in 56.54 seconds, roughly one second before Britney Muralt of George Fox, who was second in 57.55 seconds. Kisiday won by nearly five seconds in the women's 200-yard freestyle, as she registered a time of 2:04.88.
Willamette's top swimmer in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle was Jenner, who finished the 66 lengths of the pool first in 20:36.20. Jordan Edner (Sr., Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) of Willamette took second place at 21:02.45, as she held off Hannah Bartoo of GFU, who was third in 21:08.51. Jenner also placed second in the 500-yard freestyle and was third in the 400-yard individual medley.
Hornbeck, who won the NWC title in the women's 100-yard breaststroke this past spring, won the 100 breaststroke against George Fox on Saturday. Her winning time against the Bruins was 1:11.27.
In the men's 100-yard butterfly, Lindberg was the winner for the Bearcats in 55.00 seconds. He won by nearly two seconds over Daren Sehorn of GFU, who placed second in 56.95.
WU opened the meet with the Bearcats winning the women's 200-yard medley relay in 1:58.62. Swimming for the Bearcats were Noffsinger, Hornbeck, Good, and Kisiday, who won by 1.37 seconds. The Bearcats followed up with a victory in the men's 200-yard medley relay. Logan Copeland (Jr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS), Ben Nickell (Sr., Boulder, CO/Fairview HS), Lindberg, and Wilhelmi completed the relay in 1:43.36.
In the women's 200-yard freestyle relay near the end of the meet, Willamette took first place as Ella Isaacson (So., Saint Paul, MN/Central HS), Abbey Staniec (Fy., Stockton, CA/Lincoln HS), Emilie Taylor (Fy., Oceanside, CA/Rancho Buena Vista HS), and Journey Brown (Fy., San Pedro, CA/Valley Christian HS) registered a time of 1:54.93. George Fox was second in 1:57.52.
Willamette will conclude its dual meet schedule on Saturday, Jan. 28 when the Bearcats take on Southwestern Oregon Community College at the WU Natatorium. It will be an exhibition match for the Bearcats and will be WU's last competition before the NWC Championships on Feb. 9-12.
