FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Whitworth's Ryan Grady broke a Northwest Conference record and Zachary Washburn tied another as each won his first individual race of the 2022 NWC Swimming Championships on Friday night at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
The Pirate men took a commanding lead in their pursuit of their fourth straight conference title. Whitworth's women suffered a severe blow when their 400-yard medley relay was disqualified, dropping the Pirates to fourth in the women's standings.
Grady pulled away over the second half of the men's 200-yard individual medley to win in 1:48.27, qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships and breaking the NWC record. The previous record was 1:49.21 set by Whitworth's Wes Walton in 2016. Finn McClone rallied into third place with a time of 1:53.99.
Washburn got a quick start and touched first in the men's 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.29 that tied the record established by Pirate Owen Lempert in 2020. His time also is an NCAA DIII qualifying mark. Jacob Goguen took third in 20.69.
Connor Florey and Isaiah Ross finished first and second in the men's 500-yard freestyle, rallying from behind to finish in 4:38.63 and 4:39.03, respectively. Florey was third and Ross was in fourth at the 300-yard mark of the race. Noah Clarke added a fifth place finish in that event with a time of 4:43.26. Whitworth scored 105 points in the finals of the men's 500.
The Pirate men's 400-yard medley relay finished second to Linfield in the final event of the night. Ty Patterson (backstroke), Grady (breaststroke), Ross (butterfly) and Goguen (freestyle) went 3:23.78, just behind Linfield's winning time of 3:23.19.
The men's team scores through Friday night are: Whitworth 271.5, Whitman 188, Linfield 173.5, Puget Sound 141, Pacific Lutheran 105, Lewis & Clark 103, Willamette 95, George Fox 94, Pacific (Ore.) 56.
The Pirate women got a pair of second place finishes on Friday night.
Emma Thompson posted a lifetime-best mark in the 200 I.M. to take second place in 2:06.91. Her time broke Whitworth's school record of 2:07.35 set by Jackie Beal in 2016. PLU's Jessica Ordaz set an NWC record with a time of 2:04.38. Sarah Doncevic was 10th and Isabella Hackney finished 11th for the Bucs.
Carly Hoff sprinted to a time of 24.29 to finish second in the 50 freestyle, while Jillian Larrabee was fourth in 24.43. George Fox's Aspen Monkhouse won in 23.86.
Jessica Defiesta finished sixth in the women's 500 freestyle with a time of 5:20.13. Puget Sound's Emily Norton and Sara Guillen finished first and second in 5:03.23 and 5:03.32, respectively.
Whitworth's hopes for a conference championship suffered a blow when the Pirate 400 medley relay, that touched the wall second, was disqualified for an illegal relay exchange. PLU won in 3:54.13.
The women's team scores through Friday night are: Whitman 196, PLU 173, Linfield 168, Whitworth 149, Puget Sound 121, George Fox 115, Lewis & Clark 95, Pacific (Ore.) 80, Willamette 72.
The meet continues on Saturday with races in the 400-yard I.M., 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard freestyle relay.
