The 2016-17 swim season gets underway this weekend and the Pacific men's and women's swim teams are looking to make a splash in the Northwest Conference after finishing seventh and eighth in the conference, respectively, during the 2015-16 NWC Championships.
 
As the teams have spent practice time in the pool prior to the season opener, head coach Alec Webster is happy with the way the team has come together and credits his captains for the early season cohesion.
 
"It's been really good," Webster said of preseason practice. "The team dynamic has been the best it's been in the last four or five years. Everybody on the team knows what it means to be on a team and what it takes to be a good swimmer. They're working hard and right now we're really happy with where we are."
 
"I think one of the reasons we've got such a good team dynamic is that our captains – Rachel Webster, Stephanie Bultman, Charles Morse and Raymond Miller have done a really good job getting everyone together and making sure everyone is on the same page," Webster added.
 
The Pacific men lost its lone all-conference performer from last season to graduation, in sprint freestyler Jack Lloyd, but return three swimmers who earned all-conference nods two seasons ago to the lineup.
 
Senior Charles Morse (Forest Grove, Ore.) will look to regain all-conference form in the freestyle distance races, after earning Second Team All-NWC as a sophomore.
 
The Northwest Conference's third place finisher in the 2015 200-freestyle, junior Raymond Miller (Portland, Ore.) is also looking to return to all-conference form during the 2016-17 season. As a freshman, Miller was a one-time First Team All-NWC honoree and a two-time Second Team recipient.
 
"Raymond's 200-free is always something to look for on meet day," Webster said. "Charles' mile is always going to be good."
 
A third Boxer returner on the men's side looking to grab a return spot as an All-NWC honoree is junior Michael Sakai (Honolulu, Hawaii), who swam to a second team spot in the 200-butterfly as a freshman.
 
Patrick Daniels (Salem, Ore.) returns to the Pacific lineup after missing last season while on study abroad. Daniels swam on two fifth place relay teams for Pacific at the 2015 NWC Championships.
 
"We've had Patrick return and he's been doing really good," Webster said.
 
Junior Derek Dunn (Springfield, Ore.) is back with the Boxers after recording a 21^st place finish last season in the 100-butterfly, while James Michael Sherman (Portland, Ore.) returns after missing last seasons NWC Championships.
 
Aukai Kea (Mililani, Hawaii) is the lone sophomore returner for the Boxers after placing 39^th in the 50-freestyle at last seasons conference championship.
 
"Derek Dunn, Aukai, Michael and James have been stepping up and doing great," Webster said. "Our seniors, juniors and sophomore all get it and are all working on the right things."
 
An additional returning swimmer for Pacific is senior Aidan Lindsey (Portland, Ore.), who last swam for Pacific at the 2014 NWC Championships. Lindsey's top mark in the 2014 championships came in the 100-butterfly, where he finished 18^th and just missed a spot in the B-Final.
 
"We've got Aidan Lindsey back, which will be very good for us this season," Webster said.
 
Joining Pacific in 2016-17 will be four new men's swimmers in Michael Hernandez-Michalski (Salinas, Calif.), Kevin Quan (Portland, Ore.), Woodey Greer (Sandy, Utah) and Ben Reich (Sandpoint, Idaho).
 
Hernandez-Michalski, a junior, transfers into Pacific from Southwestern Oregon CC after earning Second Team All-America laurels with the Lakers.
 
"Michael, he's going to be good," Webster said. "He's going to bring us some good I.M's this season."
 
Quan, an all-state performer at Wilson High School, joins the Boxers after two years as a student at the University of Oregon.
 
"Kevin has been good so far, he's got a lot to learn, but he's really fast," Webster said. "He's going to do some good things for us, he has a lot of potential. Kevin's breaststroke and sprint freestyles are going to be something to watch this year."
 
Reich comes to Pacific after a high school career at Sandpoint High School, while Greer swam at Juan Diego Catholic and will join the Boxers in the pool at the conclusion of the men's soccer season.
 
Greer, who has scored one goal this season with the Pacific soccer team, was a first team all-state honoree in Utah and set school records in three relays at Juan Diego Catholic.
 
"Woodey has been good considering he hasn't been in the water much because he's doing so well with soccer," Webster said,  "I'm excited for him to get in there full time. Ben has good potential and I think he's going to improve quite a bit throughout the year."
 
Webster is looking forward to his teams performances in the 100-butterfly, noting that competition in practices have been a positive feature.
 
"Our 100-fly has three or four guys looking to get the school record," Webster said. "They're enjoying the competition and are not threatened by it, they like the racing aspect and it's nice to have it where they're all going for it and are happy with what everyone is doing."
 
On the women's side, Pacific returns senior Rachel Webster (Normandy Park, Wash.), who earned Second Team All-NWC in two swims last season. Webster picked up all-conference nods in the 200-butterfly and the 400-individual medley after finishing fourth and sixth in the events, respectively.
 
Joining Rachel as a captain and a returner on the women's side is Stephanie Bultman (Bothell, Wash.), who finished 19^th in the 100-backstroke and missed a B-Final berth by three spots.
 
"Rachel is obviously our top one coming back, she's very excited for the 200-fly this season," Webster said. "Stephanie had her coming out party last year and has been a great leader, so it's great having her back with us this season."
 
Also returning for Pacific is junior Kayla Knock (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who finished 13^th at the NWC Championships in the 100-backstroke last season.
 
Rounding out the returning junior class is Meaghan Conway (Reno, Nev.), Elizabeth Cruz (Castro Valley, Calif.) and Colleen Murphy (Valdez, Alaska). Conway finished 39^th last season in the 100-freestyle, while Cruz posted a 17^th place finish in the 200-butterfly and finished 26^th in the 100-freestyle.
 
"Kayla Knock's stepping it up, she's doing a great job and is showing strong work ethic," Webster said. "Eli is doing a good job as a leader and is working well. If we can keep Eli, Meaghan and Colleen healthy, they're going to be really good."
 
The Pacific sophomore class will be made up of Alex Winslow (Bend, Ore.) and Maya Okamura (Pukalani, Hawaii). Winslow recorded two top-25 finishes at the conference championships last season, finishing 24^th in the 100-backstroke and 25^th in the 200-backstroke. Okamura recorded a 14^th place finish a season ago in the 400-individual medley.
 
"Alex, we're really excited to see her this season and she is doing some really good stuff already in the backstroke," Webster said. "Maya's been awesome, she seems to have things together this year and is doing some great stuff."
 
Webster is excited about his incoming class on the women's side, which includes five true freshmen and a junior college transfer.
 
"Great incoming class, already excited about it," Webster said. "Alissa comes in almost at our 200-I.M. school record and she's a very good breaststroker as well. Callie's going to be a really good sprinter for us, and Monica is someone we're really excited about with her backstroke.
 
Alissa Frazier (Oregon City, Ore.) was the Pioneers' team MVP for four-straight seasons and was the district champion in the 200-individual medley in 2016.
 
Callie Hinson (Salem, Ore.), also a member of the Pacific volleyball program, holds school records at Salem Academy Christian School in the 50-freestyle and 200-freestyle relay and qualified for state her final three seasons of competition.
 
Monica Krubeck (Brush Prairie, Wash.) joins Pacific after two academic years at Clark College. Krubeck did not swim for the Penguins, but was a multi-time state qualifier at Hokinson High School.
 
Lauren McWilliams (Gilbert, Ariz.) was a multi-event state qualifier at Basha High School, and left high school with a pair of school records in relay swims. Maggie Stevenson (Corvallis, Ore.) swam for three seasons at Philomath and was named her teams Most Improved Female Swimmer during her time with the Warriors.
 
Cecilia Mazhary-Clark (Hillsboro, Ore.) was a member of two-straight Oregon 6A State Championship teams at Century High School. Serita Solis rounds out the incoming class and is expected to serve in many roles for the Boxers this season.
 
"Cecilia is probably the hardest working swimmer on our team," Webster said. "Lauren from Arizona, I haven't found anything bad about her – she's been awesome and her work ethic is great, we can use her almost anywhere as a utility swimmer."
 
"Serita has a great 100-butterfly and is strong in the I.M., she'll be kind of a jack of all trades," Webster added. "Maggie has only been swimming for a few years and her potential is huge."
 
Webster and the Boxers are looking forward to the opening of the 2016-17 season, with the NWC Sprint Pentathlon at Lewis & Clark on Friday and hosting the NWC Relays on Saturday morning.
 
"The upperclassmen can show the freshmen what it takes to race in this conference and we'll look to see the freshmen step-up," Webster said. "The talent of the freshmen will step up and play a bigger role in the conference. If all goes according to plan it should be fun to watch this team blossom."
 
The NWC Sprint Pentathlon is slated for a 5 p.m. start on Friday at Lewis & Clark, while the NWC Relays are set to open at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Forest Grove.