It was all eyes on the women tonight as the Missionaries faced off against Pacific. The meet was full of high-intensity racing start to finish, but the Whitman teams again pulled off a double win. The final score for the men was 146 to 55; the women's final score was 115 to 90. The Whitman men and women now each have NWC records of 4-0. 

While the men's matchup made for good races, the depth and talent of the Pacific women's roster challenged the Missionary women to bring their best to each race. 

"Energy was super high right off the get go, which is not always easy after a big week of training and a meet the night before. But the team came in ready to roll," said Head Coach Jennifer Blomme.

For the women, the meet started off with a speedy 200 yard medley relay, in which the two relay teams took second and third. This was the first time this season that the women were bested in a relay. Pacific's Katie Porter anchored the Boxer A relay with a 24.1 in her 50 yard freestyle split. The Missionary women came back strong in the 1,650 yard freestyle with Melanie Notari '14 coming right off a relay swim to take second place; Zoey Watts '17 and Shanley Miller '17 posted strong third and fourth place finishes. 

Tai Hallstein '17 and Elise Tinseth '16 posted the first wins for the women in the 50 yard freestyle and 400 yard IM. Hallstein came within .07 seconds of the school record in the event; Tinseth led a 1-2-3 finish in the IM with a time of 4:55.73. Shanley Miller '17 nabbed second place, and Ashley Jay '15 charged to the wall in third, outpacing Pacific's Stacie Struble in an exciting neck-and-neck race. 

Tinseth came back in the next event with a third-place finish in the 100 yard butterfly, behind Melanie Notari '14, who touched first with a 1:00.96. Tai Hallstein and Katie Porter raced through the 100 yard freestyle together with blistering speed - Hallstein was outtouched by .15, but posted a 53.97, putting her fourth on Whitman's all-time list. 

After taking second place in the 200 yard freestyle to Pacific's Amanda Clark, Cameo Hlebasko '16 came roaring back in a 1:01.05 effort on the 100 yard backstroke to win the event by more than two seconds. Keller Hawkins '14, Josie Furbershaw '17 and Allie Smith '16 came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. 

In her first stab at a distance event this year, Ashley Jay '15 led a pack of Whitties with her second-place finish of 5:35.41. Zoey Watts '17 finished third with a 5:45.80, and Tazi Flory '16 and Shannon Plunkett '17 came in fourth and eighth in the ten-lap event.

The 100 yard breaststroke was the final individual event of the day, and Claire Collins '14 took it out in a 1:09.11 for second place. Johanna Brunner '16, Shanley Miller '17 and Nina Dipboye '17 finished third, fourth and fifth - a demonstration of the depth of talent on the women's roster this year.

As their teammates raced throughout the meet, Whitman swimmers lined the pool deck, throwing their arms in the air and shouting encouragement during every event. The effort paid off.

In the meet-ending 200 yard freestyle relay, the team of Cameo Hlebasko '16, Ellen Banks '14, Josie Furbershaw '17 and Tai Hallstein '17 beat out the Pacific contingent to finish in first place. Hallstein anchored the relay with a 24.08 unofficial split. The win locked in the latest victory for the young team.

"It was a total team effort, with a lot of swimmers competing in really tough back to back events. And they just went after it," said Blomme. "I am so proud of the racing that was happening, certainly for our first place wins, but also for our 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place finishes. We won this swim meet on those points, too, and the assertiveness of those swimmers was really impressive."

The men's meet went off without a hitch, with Whitman swimmers topping the field in eight of the 10 events, and finishing 1-2-3 in four individual events.

After the two Whitman relays took first and second place ahead of Pacific, the men continued to put up an indominable performance throughout the meet. Sam Starr '16 led the first 1-2-3 Whitman finish in the 50 yard freestyle, touching the wall in 21.68 ahead of Loic McGiverin-Odeide '16 and Kevin Wallin '16. In the next event, the 400 yard IM, Sean Terada '17, Dane Kawamoto '17 and Nic Win '15 made a clear break from the pack to take 1-2-3 for Whitman again. Shortly after, Terada won the 100 yard freestyle in a 49.74, with McGiverin-Odeide and Dane Kawamoto '15 close behind in second and third place.

Sam Starr again took the lead in the 100 yard backstroke, touching the wall in a 53.79. Win and Will Erickson '16 came in second and third for Whitman's fourth 1-2-3 sweep. Wechter and Robby Dorn '16 took on the 100 yard breaststroke in the final minutes of the meet, finishing just half a second apart for first and second place.

"Today was about energy, competitiveness, and team effort," said Blomme after the meet. "The women's team, in particular, knew that we were going to have to fight for every point, and they attacked every race. There were so many aggressive swims and great finishes." 


See complete results here.