Lutes, Pioneers Split Conference Swimming Dual
PARKLAND - The Pacific Lutheran men won eight of 11 events in defeating the visiting Lewis & Clark College Pioneers, 119-85, in a Northwest Conference dual meet held Friday night at the PLU Pool.
On the women's side, the depleted Pacific Lutheran team simply didn't have enough to fend off the Pioneers, who took a 129-75 victory.
With the win, the PLU men improve to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference. The women, meanwhile, are now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NWC.
After the Lewis & Clark men won the opening 400 medley relay in a time of 4:00.29, Jacob Deines got PLU rolling with a victory in the 1000 freestyle in a time of 11:00.52. He came back later in the meet to win the 200 butterfly in 2:10.22.
Kevin Jones took a pair of victories, winning the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:52.23 and the 100 freestyle in 50.22, and Alex Limoges joined in the double-win category, taking the 200 individual medley in 2:06.76 and the 200 backstroke in 2:05.36.
Chase Mesford and Trevor Olson added individual event wins for PLU, Mesford in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:12.86, and Olson in the 200 breaststroke in 2:28.47.
Lewis & Clark had bookend relay wins, finishing the meet with a 3:24.87 clocking in the 400 freestyle relay. Their only event win came from Shuichi Matsumoto, who touched first in the 50 freestyle in 22.44.
Lewis & Clark had a strong effort on the women's side, led by a pair of swimmers who won two events - Rachael Cazden in the 50 freestyle (25.30) and 100 freestyle (54.93), and Alli Rotunno in the 200 individual medley (2:21.03) and 200 breaststroke (2:33.27).
Other individual event winners for the Pios were Kayla Ernewein in the 200 freestyle (2:01.46), Katy Yeh in the 200 butterfly (2:23.30), and Clair Jordan in the 500 freestyle (5:33.34).
PLU, meanwhile, was without two of its top swimmers in Jessie Klauder and Rachel Troutt, both of whom are studying abroad during January Term. In addition, injuries prevented the Lutes from picking up some expected points in several events.
That didn't stop the Lutes from a number of strong races, including a winning 4:13.32 from Darla Avis, Gina Wittman, Casey Jackson and Elizabeth Althauser in the 400 medley relay. Kina Ackerman placed first in the 1000 freestyle (11:21.06), and Casey Jackson was victorious in the 200 backstroke (2:15.04).
"I thought we swam great," said PLU head coach Matt Sellman. "We showed a lot of guts and swam really fast this time of year for the way we're training."
PLU returns to conference action at 1 p.m. tomorrow when it hosts the Pacific Boxers at the PLU Pool.
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