Championship Preview: Northwest Conference

Over 200 swimmers are set to compete at the 2009 Northwest Conference Championships meet being staged this week at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

Action runs Friday through Sunday, with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. and finals beginning at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. on Sunday).

Linfield College is serving as host school of the eight-team competition. All-session passes are $20 for adults and $15 for youth and can be purchased at the door.

MEN
Whitworth is aiming for its seventh straight men’s title but will have to hold off a strong bid from Puget Sound, which enters the meet with conference-leading times in five individual events. The Loggers also lead the times list in all four relays, which count for double points in the team standings. Whitman, Pacific Lutheran and Pacific are also enjoying resurgent seasons. With defending champions slotted in four events, the Linfield men should score plenty of points.

Whitworth enters the meet with six conference-best times of its own.  Pirates sophomore Michael Woodward is the defending champion of the 200 individual medley. Freshman Rory Buck has already broken the school record in the 100 breaststroke. Quinton Darling has the NWC’s top time this season in the 400 individual medley.

Puget Sound senior Paul Hughes has already punched his ticket to nationals with a NCAA "A" qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke (55.70) at the Husky Invitational. The Loggers’ 200 medley relay team set a new school record earlier this year of 1:33.26. Junior Jackson Kowalski heads in as the favorite in the 100 and 200 backstroke.

The Linfield men are led by two-time honorable mention All-American Dominic Rieniets, who returns to the NWC Championships to defend individual titles in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly. Josh Parfitt is enjoying a strong senior season and is back to defend his 200 freestyle title. Parfitt also leads the NWC in the 1,650 freestyle. Yusuke Kobayashi could also contend in the 200 IM or the 200 butterfly.

Seniors Ysbrand Nusse and Noel Sollom-Brotherton top one of the strongest Whitman men’s teams in recent memory. At last year’s NWC meet, Nusse finished second in the 400 individual medley, fourth in the 200 backstroke and eighth in the 500 freestyle. Sollom-Brotherton recently broke a 14-year-old school record in the 200 backstroke while earning NWC Student-Athlete of the Week honors. Junior Eric Molnar, who studied abroad during the fall semester, won an NWC title in the 400 IM last year. Other key swimmers include junior George Stanton, sophomore Jamie Nusse and freshmen Chris Bendix.

Sophomore Jay Jones is putting up performances that haven't been seen at Pacific Lutheran in about a decade. He has established new school records in the 100 butterfly (this season) and the 200 individual medley (last season), and won the 200 butterfly at the 2008 NWC meet to become the first PLU male swimmer since 1999 to win a conference individual event title. Jones enters the conference meet ranked first in the 200 butterfly, second in both the 200 IM and 400 IM, and third in the 100 butterfly. Other PLU male swimmers currently ranked in the top eight in more than one event are sophomore Alex Limoges, who was a top eight finisher last year in the 200 backstroke and the 100 butterfly, and freshman Forrest Crain.

The Pacific men continued to improve despite not gaining any new swimmers over the previous season.  The Boxers won two dual meets, more than any of the team's previous four seasons.  Sophomore Brandan Mantei leads the Pacific men, owning 12 of the Boxers' top times in nearly every stroke.

Samuel Palmer is one of two seniors on the Lewis & Clark squad. Palmer ranks in the top 20 in the 100 backstroke. Lee Taylor and Pat Murray could also score some points in the 100 breaststroke.

Willamette team captain James Huang has consistently improved his best times throughout the season. He hopes to make top 16 finishes in one or more of his events for the first time in his career. John Schmidtbauer will be out to improve on his three finishes in the consolation finals at last year's NWC Championships.

WOMEN
Whitworth is the defending women’s champion and will make a strong bid to repeat with eight individual NWC-best times and two top relay bests. Puget Sound, which sports four conference-leading times, may be the only team with the talent and depth to catch the Pirates in the team standings.

Whitworth appears strong again with a pair of multi-event defending champions. Senior Brittany Gresset is two-time champion of both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Junior Natalie Turner is two-time defending champion of the 200, 500 and 1,650 freestyles.

The Puget Sound Loggers look to their youth to recapture the NWC title that was wrestled away last year by Whitworth, ending an amazing run of 11 straight championships. Freshman Sierra Phillips has the top times in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, meeting the “A” NCAA qualifying time in the 100 at the Husky Invitational.

The young Pacific Lutheran women’s team is led by sophomores Jessie Klauder and Casey Jackson, both of whom were top-eight finishers at last year's conference championships. Klauder placed third in the 200 breaststroke and sixth in the 400 individual medley and Jackson finished seventh in the 200 backstroke and eighth in the 100 backstroke. Both swimmers are ranked among the conference leaders in at least two events heading into this year's championship event. Other top PLU entrants include Gina Wittman in the breaststroke, Elizabeth Althauser in the distance freestyle and Kasey Dorcas in the IM.

The Linfield women feature two-time honorable mention All-American Rose Hollingsworth. The defending champion in the 100 backstroke, she also boasts the top time this season in the NWC in the 200 backstroke. Freshman Melany Krill could sneak into the championship finals in the 50 or 100 freestyle events.

Sophomore Lauren Flynn and first-year teammate Linnea Scott have emerged to lead the Whitman women’s team. Flynn has posted the sixth-best times in the NWC in the 50 and 100 freestyle events while Scott ranks fifth in the 400 IM and sixth in the 1,650 freestyle. Senior Courtney Fitzpatrick has placed as high as seventh (100 butterfly) in past NWC meets. Other key contributors include first-year Missionary Monica Boshart, who has the 11th-best NWC times this season in the breaststroke events, and junior Chelsea Klinger, who placed fifth in the 400 IM at last year’s NWC meet.

The Pacific women are experiencing their best season since the program was reinstated in 2002.  The Boxers finished with a 5-4 dual meet record after winning just two duals in their first five years.  Pacific has seen 11 records fall this season, including all five relay marks.The Boxers are led by three newcomers to the program, freshmen Becky Hattersley and Kristin Favillo and sophomore Eileen Bringman.

Claire Jordan, Lindsay Nixon, Koy Collier, and Susie Trexler are the go-to swimmers for Lewis & Clark. All provide the Pioneers with consistent performances every meet.

For Willamette, Gwen Schulze will attempt to break the school record in the 100 butterfly, while working to earn a possible NCAA "B" qualifying time. Hanna Connett and Jenna Larrow will try to improve on last year's top 8 finishes as they seek to move into the top 3-5 places.