By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

NEWBERG, Ore. -- Willamette University took first place in the women's team standings with a score of 730 points at the 2023 Bruin Invitational as the two-day competition concluded on Sunday, Dec. 3. The Bearcats edged out George Fox University, which placed second with 717 points, and Pacific Lutheran University, which finished third with a score of 707 points. Lewis & Clark placed fourth with 490 points and Pacific University, which only competed on Saturday, was fifth with 179 points.

On Sunday, Willamette won three individual events and placed second in both relays. Winning events for the Bearcats on the second day were Tessa Ciatti (Fy., Bellingham, WA/Squalicum HS) in the 400-yard individual medley, Anna Hornbeck (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS) in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Alayna Kisiday (Jr., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) in the 200-yard freestyle. Ciatti also placed second in the 200-yard butterfly, while Kisiday was third in the 50-yard freestyle.

Ciatta achieved a winning time of 4:48.31 in the 400-yard individual medley. She won by 6.83 seconds, with AJ Schoreder for L&C claiming second place in 4:55.14. Kisiday won the "A" final in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.12, finishing just in front of Jesse Urback from GFU, who was second in 2:00.36. Sarah Jenner (Jr., Normandy Park, WA/Stanford Online HS) of WU was fourth with a time of 2:03.13.

Hornbeck attained first place in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07:51 as she held off a challenge from Makenzie Chan-Orcutt of Pacific Lutheran. Chan-Orcutt took second place in 1:08.27.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Ciatta earned second place with a time of 2:15.37. Emma Gasman from PLU won the event in 2:14.23. In the 50-yard freestyle, Kisiday placed third in 25:15 seconds for the Bearcats, while Leah Howell (Fy., Bremerton, WA/Central Kitsap HS) was sixth in 25:51 seconds, and Lydia Schmitt (Fy., Olympia, WA/North Thurston HS) took seventh in 25.65 seconds. Jessica Ordaz of Pacific Lutheran won the 50 free in 24.40 seconds.

Tatum Good (Jr., Scottsdale, AZ/Scottsdale Prep Academy) of Willamette was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:01.52. Howell was sixth in 1:02.28 and Emma Schauble (Fy., Portland, OR/Prospect Ridge Academy HS) placed seventh in 1:05.69.

Jenner placed fourth for the Bearcats in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 19:01.65. Laurel Knox of George Fox led a 1-2-3- finish in the event for the Bruins, as she touched out first in 18:21.64. Also for WU in the 1,650 freestyle, Ana Kaldy was sixth at 19:50.93 and Ella Carnell (So., Seattle, WA/Ingraham HS/Eckerd College) was ninth in 21:24.74.

Willamette's 200-yard medley relay team placed second in 1:50.56 on Sunday. Pacific Lutheran won the race by just 1.20 with a time of 1:49.36. Swimming for WU were Howell, Hornbeck, Ciatti, and Kisiday. The Bearcats also placed second in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Kisiday, Schmitt, Howell, and Jacqueline Hall (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) were timed at 3:41.57. PLU won the relay in 3:36.64.

Three Willamette swimmers placed in the top three during "B" finals to place between ninth and 11th overall. Journey Brown (So., San Pedro, CA/Valley Christian HS) earned ninth place in the 100-yard backstroke by winning the "B" final in 1:06.57. Hall was 10th and Schmitt took 11th in the 200-yard freestyle, as Hall was second in the "B" final at 2:04.34 and Schmitt was third in 2:07.37.

The Bearcats will compete again Friday, Jan. 12 in a Northwest Conference dual meet at George Fox University. Meet time is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST in Newberg, Oregon.