FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Whitworth University men dominated the final night of competition at the 2022 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships on Sunday, rolling to their fourth straight conference championship.
The Pirates won four events and set records in three of those, to win their fourth straight NWC men's swimming title and 18th in the last 21 years.
The Whitworth women won two events on Sunday night and finished in third place.
The Pirate men closed the meet in impressive fashion, rolling to a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:01.09, breaking the old NWC record of 3:01.55 set by Whitman College in 2015. Zachary Washburn, Finn McClone, Ryan Grady and Jacob Goguen duplicated their accomplishment from the first night of the meet when they set a conference record in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Grady concluded his NWC swimming career by breaking the record in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:57.57. His time surpassed the previous mark of 1:57.79 that former Pirate Rory Buck posted while winning an NCAA Division III title in 2011. Alex Henderson finished fifth in that race for Whitworth in 2:07.45.
Washburn and Goguen, who earlier in the meet finished first and second in the 50-yard freestyle, reversed that order in the closest finish of the night. Goguen overtook Washburn on the final lap to win the 100-yard freestyle in 44.73. Washburn finished second in 44.91. Goguen and Washburn were under the Whitworth team record of 45.45 and Goguen broke the meet record of 44.83 established by Whitman's Clark Sun in 2017.
Finn McClone was fifth (46.72) and Ryan Burch was sixth (47.13) for Whitworth in the 100 freestyle, giving the Pirates 64 points in the championship final.
Connor Florey opened the night for the men's team with a victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:21.21, winning by ten seconds. It was his second individual win of the meet, including the 500-yard freestyle on Friday night. Noah Clarke took eighth in 16:51.78.
Isaiah Ross improved his preliminary time in the 200-yard butterfly by three seconds to finish third in the final with a time of 1:54.05. Linfield's Benjamin Simpson won in 1:50.97.
Jorgen Midboe finished seventh in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:57.54, while Ty Patterson was 10th (1:58.99). Whitman's Tanner Filion won with an NWC record time of 1:44.57.
Grady, who set records in all three of his individual events, and Filion, who did the same for Whitman, shared the honor of NWC Men's Swimmer of the Meet. Grady won the 200 I.M., 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. Filion won the 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. Washburn, with a win in the 50 freestyle and second place finishes in the 200 and 100 freestyles, is the NWC Freshman of the Year. Steve Schadt was selected by his peers as the NWC Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
The final men's team scores are: Whitworth 703, Whitman 555, Linfield 536.5, Puget Sound 466, Pacific Lutheran 233.5, Lewis & Clark 228, Willamette 221, George Fox 201, Pacific (Ore.) 112.5.
Whitworth's women got individual victories from Emma Thompson and Carly Hoff on the final night.
Thompson won her second individual event of the meet by touching first in the 200 backstroke in 2:03.15, surpassing her previous season-best of 2:03.59. She also won the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday. Taylor Thorne was 11th and Jessica Defiesta 12th for Whitworth in the 200 back.
Hoff won her first career event, jumping to the lead at the halfway point and finishing the 100-yard freestyle in 52.87, her personal best time. Jillian Larrabee won the consolation final to finish 9th in 53.65.
Ryann Reid, who swam in an early heat, took fifth in the women's 1,650 freestyle by dropping more than 40 seconds from her seed time to finish in 18:21.71. Kailynn Dillon was 11th. Puget Sound's Emily Nolan won the race with a time of 17:32.45.
Ashtyn Petersen dropped five seconds from her morning preliminary swim to rally into third place in the women's 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.29. Whitman's Erin McKinney won in 2:21.27.
Zoe Morillo finished fourth (2:16.30) and Isabel Fetty was fifth (2:16.47) after improving from the morning preliminaries in the 200 butterfly. PLU's Jessica Ordaz won in 2:03.95.
Neither Thompson nor Hoff were still available for Whitworth in the 400 freestyle relay after both had already raced in the maximum of four relays. Reid, Isabella Hackney, Sarah Doncevic and Larrabee still were able to take third place for the Pirates with a time of 3:28.28. PLU won in 3:33.06.
PLU's Ordaz was both the Women's Swimmer of the Meet and the NWC Freshman of the Year after winning the 200 I.M., 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly.
The final women's team score is: Whitman 618, PLU 506, Whitworth 485, Linfield 441, Puget Sound 374, George Fox 239, Willamette 201, Lewis & Clark 185, Pacific (Ore.) 177.
The 2022 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships will take place March 16-19 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
