The men’s and women’s swimming teams wrapped up their 2021-22 season with Northwest Conference championships in three relays and three individual events.
Aside from bringing a hardware haul back to McMinnville, four Wildcats are now waiting to see if they will receive invitations to the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, March 16-19, in Indianapolis.
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The Wildcat men placed third overall and the women’s placed fourth at the NWC Championships, but relay teams and individuals triumphed numerous times. The nine-team, four-day event was hosted by Willamette University and staged at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Men’s conference title winners were:
- 200 medley relay (1:31.61) – Daisuke Fitial, Jake Maher, Edan Donaldsonand Garrett Sutton.
- 400 medley relay (3:23.19) – Fitial, Maher, Ben Simpsonand Donaldson.
- 200 freestyle relay (1:22.51, a new Linfield record) – Sutton, Fitial, Simpson and Donaldson.
- 100 butterfly (49.43) – Simpson.
- 200 butterfly (1:50.97) – Simpson.
Kate Walkup scored the sole women’s conference title in the 400 individual medley (4:30.70).
Four swimmers earned potential berths in national competition based on their times in individual events. Fitial and Donaldson registered NCAA provisional ‘B’ qualifying marks in the 100 backstroke (49.41 and 49.79, respectively); Walkup could qualify in the 400 individual medley; and Sutton may make the national cut in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.47. Sutton broke his own school record with his time at the NWSC meet.
The Linfield men finished third place in the team standings with 536.5 points. Whitworth repeated as NWC men’s team champion with 703.5 points and Whitman was runner-up with 555 points.
With 441 team points, the Wildcat women were fourth overall in the team standings. Whitman won the women’s league title with 618 points, Pacific Lutheran was second with 506 while Whitworth was third at 485.