By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NEWBERG, Ore. -- Cole Lindberg (Jr., Moses Lake, WA/Moses Lake Christian Academy) took first place in the men's 100-yard butterfly and helped Willamette University win the men's 200-yard freestyle relay on the first day of the Bruin Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Chehalem Parks/Recreation Aquatic Center. Lindberg also earned third place in the 200-yard individual medley.
George Fox University, which is hosting the meet, held first place at the end of the first day with 402 points. Willamette was in second place with 309 points, as the Bearcats owned a slight edge over Lewis & Clark College, which was third with 305 points. Pacific Lutheran University followed in fourth place at 269 and Pacific University was fifth with 17 points. The Bruin Invitational will conclude on Sunday, Dec. 3, with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. PST and finals starting at 4 p.m.
Lindberg prevailed in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.01 seconds, placing him fifth on Willamette's all-time list. Lindberg is Willamette's record holder at 49.91 seconds in the 100 fly and also holds second, fourth, and seventh on the list. On Saturday, he won by 0.48 over Micah Rysavy from Lewis & Clark, who placed second in 51.49 seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Lindberg swam the third leg as the Bearcats registered a winning time of 1:27.97. Also swimming on the relay team were Kevin Olmedo (So., La Canada, CA/St. Francis HS), Logan Copeland (Sr., Sparks, NV/Spanish Springs HS), Julius Wilhelmi (Sr., Roseville, CA/Woodcreek HS). The Bearcats held off George Fox, which took second place just 0.10 later at 1:28.07. GFU's team included August Maberry, Cameron Alexander, Aries Valenzuela, and Levi Gibson.
Lindberg's third place time in the 200-yard individual medley was 2:01.71. Rysavy won the 200 I.M. in 2:00.13, while Jon Westlake from L&C was second in 2:00.70.
Nicholas Moore of Willamette earned second place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:07.01. Ian Holmberg from L&C claimed first place in 2:05.94.
Moore added a third place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and Wilhelmi placed third in the 100-yard freestyle. Moore's time in the 500 free was 4:56.86. The event was won by Tyler Tanaka from PLU in 4:51.25. Wilhelmi was timed at 47.38 in the 100 free, as he finished 0.14 out of second place, held by Devin Stanley of Pacific Lutheran at 47.24. Zachary Martin of Lewis & Clark won the 100 free in 46.69.
Overall, the Bearcats qualified for 12 berths in the "A" finals of Saturday's six individual events.
