WOMEN: Pacific 114, Pacific Lutheran 91
MEN: Pacific Lutheran 140, Pacific 65
Individual Results
FOREST GROVE – In a year of incredible parity in Northwest Conference women's swimming, Pacific finally broke through for a win in their second home met in as many days.
The Boxers women (1-3 NWC, 2-3 overall) got the extra first places from Katherine Porter (Fr., Mcminnville, Ore.) and
Allison Clark (Jr., Keizer, Ore.) that eluded them in a Friday loss to Puget Sound and the 400 Yard Freestyle relay team closed the meet with a win to put a stamp on Pacific's first conference dual meet win of the season. The Boxers won 114 to 91 in the women's meet, while Pacific's men (0-4, 1-4) are still searching for their first conference win after a 140-65 defeat at the hands of the Lutes.
Much like Friday, the meet was still up for grabs heading into the final two women's events, but Clark pulled through with a first place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:33.22), finishing a full three seconds ahead of PLU's Rachel Althauser. In the final relay, Pacific's team of
Kristine Valdez* (Jr., Poulsbo, Wash.),
Keely Craig (So, Federal Way, Wash.), Alexandria Bing (So., Roseburg, Ore.) and
Amber Chase (Fr., Tigard, Ore.) won with a time of 3:52.10, four seconds ahead of the Lutes. The Boxers “B” team of
Kelli Kronsberg (So., North Bend, Wash.), Kaitlyn Bailey (Fr., The Dalles, Ore.) ,
Stephanie Suda (Fr., Albany, Ore.) and
Nicole Koch (Jr., Longmont, Colo.) also narrowly nipped PLU by a quarter-second to earn two extra points, the kind of points that go a long way in a year of competitive duals.
Amanda Clark (Fr., Olympia, Wash.) was business as usual with three more first places and another barrier-busting school record. Clark won the 1000 Free (11:04.28) and 500 Free (5:26.23) and became the first Boxer ever to break two minutes in the 200 Free (1:59.99) as she continues to dominate NWC competition in the medium to long-distance freestyle events. Clark now owns school records in four of the six freestyle events.
Porter was a double-winner, swimming the 50 Free in 24.86 to win by a half-second over PLU's Toni Castillo, while pulling off a win in the 100 Free (55.01) by nearly a second over Castillo.
The Boxer women won every individual event but one, as Pacific Lutheran's Darla Avis led a sweep of the top three places in the 200 backstroke (2:19.13), followed by Haley Cooper (2:25.02) and Emma Thompson (2:26.52). Avis also swam the lead leg on PLU's victorious 400 Individual Medley relay (4:13.44), which opened proceedings with a narrow half-second victory over Pacific's quartet (4:13.97) of Valdez,
Allison Clark,
Stacie Struble (Fr., Albany, Ore.) and Porter. Struble (2:23.04) and Koch took the top two places in the 200 Butterfly (2:25.14).
In the men's meet, it was another two-win day for
Michael Hargitt* (So., Oregon City, Ore.), who took first place in the 200 IM (2:03.58) and 200 Breast (2:18.93). After being locked out of the winner's circle on Friday,
Kramer Ichimura (Fr., Mililani, Hawaii) raced to a win in the 200 Butterfly (2:00.81). PLU's Chase Mesford edged out Ichimura by a half-second for first place in the 200 Free (1:48.77). Mesford also swam to a first-place finish in the 100 Free (48.99) and anchored the Lutes' victorious 400 Medley relay (3:38.95).
The Boxers head to Salem to face Willamette on Friday in a 6:00 p.m. dual before returning to Forest Grove Aquatic Center next Saturday to face Linfield at 1:00 p.m.
