BOISE, Idaho – The Whitworth University swimming teams closed out the 2026 Northwest Conference Championship meet the way they started it, in dominating fashion on the way to impressive team victories on Sunday at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center.
The Pirate men won their third straight title, and 22nd NWC crown overall, by the largest margin in championship meet history. The women's team earned its second straight championship, and seventh overall, by the biggest difference in Whitworth history.
Led by 2026 NWC Swimmer of the Year Austin Elwyn, the men's team finished with 875 points, the second-highest total in team history, and was 365.5 points clear of the rest of the field. The Pirate men won 14 of the 18 contested events, including all five relays.
Sunday's events started with a 1-2-3 finish in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. All three Pirates trailed Puget Sound's Sam Lyon, the 2026 NWC champion in the 500 free on Friday, for the first 900 yards. But Jake Sachtjen led the way past Lyon, followed by Ben Butler and Braiden Alexander. Sachtjen won the event in 16:01.08 with Butler taking second in 16:07.60 and Alexander third with a time of 16:12.58. Trenton Schmidt finished seventh in 16:38.20.
Then Elwyn finished off a perfect weekend with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke. He dropped four seconds from his preliminary time to win in 1:50.81, making him the only male swimmer in the meet to capture first place in three individual races. Vincent McNabb followed Elwyn to the wall, taking second place in 1:53.70 with Samuel Draeger fourth in 1:54.79. Vladislav Danylyuk won the consolation final for ninth place in 1:55.88.
The men's 100-yard freestyle was a dual of champions. Whitworth's Nathanael Van Liew won the 50 Freestyle on Friday while Parker Dangleis won the 200 Freestyle on Saturday. Both were going up against Lewis & Clark's Ezra Billings, the event's defending champion. Van Liew led at the 50 before Dangleis and Billings moved to the front. Billings edged Dangleis at the wall 44.89 to 45.01. Van Liew finished fourth in 45.31. Mason Groth won the consolation final to take ninth place in 47.20.
The men's 200-yard breaststroke was another riveting finish. Alex Popov had the lead at the 100-yard mark, fell to third place at 150 yards, then nearly rallied to win but finished just behind Willamette's Trai Xiong 2:02.09 – 2:02.52. Preston Wolf finished fourth in 2:05.27.
Henry Brewster won the men's 200-yard butterfly for the third straight season, touching the wall in 1:50.96. Kai Jon Hayashida took fifth in the race with a time of 1:54.78, in what is a new event for him this season.
The Whitworth men ran away with the 400-yard freestyle relay to conclude the meet. Van Liew, Elwyn, Groth and Danglies posted a time of 3:02.18, the second-fastest winning time in NWC history.
Elwyn won the Men's Swimmer of the Year award, thanks to victories in the 200-yard Individual Medley on Friday, the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday and the 200 back tonight. The win in the 200 I.M. was his third straight in the event. He scored 60 points as an individual.
Pirate head coach Steve Schadt was selected by his peers in the conference as the Men's NWC Coach of the Year for the eighth time.
The final men's team scores were: Whitworth 875, Puget Sound 509.5, Linfield 394.5, Whitman 392.5, Pacific Lutheran 287.5, Lewis & Clark 282, Willamette 238, George Fox 216. Only the Pirate team of 2011 scored more points (923.5) in NWC history and this year's squad posted a larger margin of victory than that one did (337 points).
Not only did the men's team win all five relay events, they set three NWC records along the way in the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 and 400 medley relays.
Whitworth's women were nearly as dominant as the men, winning their meet by 232 points, the Pirate women's largest margin of victory in any of the seven championship seasons. Whitworth won 11 of the 18 events, including all five relays over the course of the weekend.
Paige Dangleis won all three of her individual events in the meet to share the NWC Women's Swimmer of the Year award with Whitman's Avery Riley and George Fox's Gabbie Patti. Dangleis and Patti were also the Co-NWC Rookies of the Year.
The women's meet opened with a thrilling dual in the 1,650-yard freestyle between Whitworth freshman Kallie Badry and Linfield senior Kirsti Keppo, the defending champion in the event. The two swam side by side for 1,600 of the 1,650 yards before Keppo pulled away on the last 50 to win by two seconds (17:52.11 – 17:54.84). Alisa King finished sixth in the race in 18:34.93.
George Fox's Patti won the women's 200-yard backstroke in 2:01.87, a new meet record. Hailey Freeman took third place for the Pirates in 2:11.82 and Mija Hood was seventh in 2:18.14.
Dangleis got Whitworth's first women's individual event victory of the night in the 100-yard freestyle. She led from the opening lap to win in 52.44. Grace Esteban, who came into the final seeded fourth, took second place with a time of 53.63. Makhaela Parrish finished seventh in 54.87.
Molly Konop and Megan Bonikowsky put on a show in the women's 200-yard breaststroke, taking first and second respectively. Konop finished in 2:19.25 while the hard-charging Bonikowsky followed in 2:19.53. Both times were under Bonikowsky's previous school record of 2:19.56 set in December and both are NCAA Division III provisional qualifying marks. Isabella Hoopes came from behind on the final 50 yards to give the Pirates a 1-2-3 sweep, taking third in 2:25.50.
Whitman's Avery Riley won the women's 200 butterfly, he third individual victory of the meet.
Whitworth's women closed the night with a dominating win in the 400 freestyle relay. Danglies, Parrish, Esteban and Bonikowsky went 3:32.03 to just miss breaking the school record of 3:31.80 set last season.
The final women's team scores were: Whitworth 709, Puget Sound 477, Pacific Lutheran 410, Whitman 386, George Fox 381, Linfield 363, Willamette 239, Lewis & Clark 217, Pacific (Ore.) 103.
Perhaps scariest for the rest of the NWC, the Pirates' top two female scorers in this meet are freshmen. Dangleis scored 60 points and Badry scored 53. In addition, Konop – another first-year – won both breaststroke events.
George Fox's Natalie Turner, a Whitworth swimming alum, was selected by her peers as the NWC's Women's Coach of the Year.
