FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Whitworth University women's and men's swimming teams took the lead on the opening night of the 2022 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships thanks to victories in the 800-yard freestyle relays.

The Pirate women pulled out a dramatic win in their 800 free relay, a race that featured a different team leading the race after each leg.  Emma Thompson, Isabella Hackney, Ryann Reid and Carly Hoff finished first in 7:45.77 as Hoff overtook Whitman on the final leg.  The Pirates dropped nearly ten seconds off the seed time.  PLU led after the first 200 and Puget Sound was in first at the halfway point.  Whitman took the lead following the third leg before Hoff held off UPS (7:45.93) on the final segment. 

Whitworth finished second in the women's 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:46.59.  Thompson swam backstroke, Ashtyn Petersen the breaststroke, Sarah Doncevic the butterfly and Hoff anchored in the freestyle.  Pacific Lutheran won the race in 1:45.90.

The women's team scores after the first day are: Whitworth 74, PLU 70, Puget Sound 64, Whitman 60, Linfield 60, George Fox 48, Lewis & Clark 48, Pacific (Ore.) 40, Willamette 26.

The Pirate men ran away with the 800 freestyle relay, finishing in a Northwest Conference record of 6:39.93, which is also an NCAA Division III qualifying time.  Whitworth had a pool-length lead halfway into the race as Ryan Grady, Zachary Washburn, Finn McClone and Jacob Goguen shattered the old record of 6:44.09 set by Whitman in 2015.  Grady also set a Whitworth school record in the 200-yard freestyle with his leadoff split of 1:38.67.  The previous team record was 1:40.62 set by Michael Woodward in 2009.  Whitman was second in tonight's race with a time of 6:53.28.

The Pirate men finished second to Linfield in the 200 medley relay.  Washburn (backstroke), Andrew Lambert (breaststroke), Isaiah Ross (butterfly) and Goguen (freestyle) went 1:32.30, just behind the Wildcats who finished in 1:31.61. 

The men's team scores after the first night are: Whitworth 74, Linfield 72, Whitman 66, Puget Sound 60, Pacific Lutheran 52, Willamette 52, Lewis & Clark 50, George Fox 46, Pacific (Ore.) 36.

The meet continues on Friday with the first prelims-finals format.  Preliminary heats begin at 10:00 am and Finals start at 5:00 pm in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay.