SPOKANE, Wash. – Zachary Washburn set two Megan E. Thompson Aquatic Center records to lead the Whitworth University men to a dominating 123-79 win over visiting Whitman in a Northwest Conference swimming dual meet on Saturday afternoon. The Pirate women also edged the Blues 111-94.
Whitworth won eight of the 11 men's events.
Washburn slipped past Whitman standout Tanner Fillion on the final stroke of the men's 100-yard freestyle to win an historically fast race at the Megan Thompson Aquatic Center. Washburn went 45.66 to Fillion's 45.68, both well under the previous pool record of 46.33 set back at the 1986 NAIA Championship meet held at the facility. Neil Anderson of the University of Denver held the previous mark.
Washburn also broke the facility record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.96, besting the previous pool mark of 21.10 set by Whitworth's Owen Lempert in 2020.
Washburn led off the winning 400-yard medley relay, followed by Ryan Grady, Isaiah Ross and Finn McClone. The Pirates went 3:28.15.
Grady also won the men's 200-yard breaststroke in 2:03.32 to post the meet's only provisional NCAA Division III qualifying time. He then anchored the winning 400-yard freestyle relay to a time of 3:11.80.
Other Whitworth winners in the men's meet were Connor Florey in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:14.62), McClone in the 200-yard individual medley (1:58.92) and Alexander Henderson in the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.39).
Fillion won the men's 200-yard freestyle for Whitman in 1:41.88, less than a second off the pool record.
Emma Thompson also broke a pool record for the Whitworth women on Saturday. She and Carly Hoff won two events each to lead the Pirates to a dual meet season ending victory.
Thompson broke her own Aquatic Center record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:05.70, beating the previous mark of 2:06.92 she set back in November. Thompson also won the 200 I.M. in 2:10.02.
Hoff took first place in the 200 freestyle (2:00.59) by less than a second, but dominated the 100 freestyle in 54.21.
Thompson (backstroke) and Hoff (freestyle) were joined on the winning 400 medley relay by Ashtyn Peterson (breaststroke) and Sarah Doncevic (butterfly) with a time of 4:06.38.
Jillian Larrabee won the women's 50 freestyle in 25.16 and then led off the winning 400 freestyle relay that posted a time of 3:44.43. She was joined by Ryann Reid, Isabella Hackney and Jessica Defiesta.
The women's meet was closer than the final score indicated. After Whitman swept the top three places in the 200 breaststroke the Blues pulled within 98-90 in the team score. Had Whitman finished first and third in the final relay, the Blues would have pulled out the meet.
Annika Hobson won both the 1,000 freestyle (11:24.56) and 500 freestyle (5:29.71) for Whitman.
Whitworth and Whitman will be back in action at the 2021 Northwest Conference Championships on February 10-13 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington. The Pirate men won the last championship in 2020, as did Whitman's women.
