Just hours after arriving back in Walla Walla, the Whitman swim teams again took to the pool against tough rival teams from Pacific Lutheran University. Both schools put on a strong showing, and came away with a split result: the Whitman men won 111-94, while the Lute women took home the win, 131-74. 

The night included plenty of fast racing and tight matchups, including multiple season best times for Whitman swimmers. Despite having just finished a 9-day period of intense training, the teams stepped up and found good races in their opponents at every turn.

"The fact that we showed up to race the way we did tonight is a testament to the never-say-die attitude that this team carries to every meet, no matter who it's against," said Assistant Coach Chris Bendix after the meet.

From the first event, it was clear it would be a night of close finishes for both teams: the Whitman 200 yard medley relay of seniors Keller Hawkins, Claire Collins, Melanie Notari and Ellen Banks raced neck and neck with the Lutes' A relay until the finish, where they were outtouched by .03 seconds. Their time was 1:52.19, four seconds off the school record set in 2012.

The men's 200 yard medley proved just as exciting, with the team of Nic Win, Robby Dorn, Dane Kawamoto and Loic McGiverin-Odeide touching the wall in 1:38.74, less than a second behind the Lutes.

For the women, first-year Zoey Watts livened up the mile with a personal best, clocking in at 18:59.28 in the 1650 yard swim, good for second place. Melanie Notari took fourth in the event with 19:16.73, and sophomore Logan Gomez raced even with PLU's Emily Baier and fell back only in the final stretch to take sixth place with 2:01.68. In the 200 yard freestyle Cameo Hlebasko found her race in PLU's Melissa Dean, and beat her to the wall to take second with a time of 2:00.40. Claire Collins touched in at 2:03.57 for fourth place.

It was Tai Hallstein who claimed the women's first victory of the night in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing in 24.62 seconds, a half-second off her school record from earlier this fall. Hallstein led a series of close finishes, with Whitman's Ellen Banks, Jennifer Tornay and Josie Furbershaw racing to 4th, 6th and 7th place finishes all a half-second of each other.

More close races came in the women's 400 yard IM, where Shanley Miller and Elise Tinseth took second and third, respectively. Hallstein won her second individual event of the night with the 100 yard freestyle, touching at 53.75 ahead of the Lutes' Darcie Booth. Hallstein's time was just .4 off the school record set by Helen Jenne in 2012.

Claire Collins gave the women their final individual win with a 1:09.03 in the 100 yard breaststroke. In the final 200 yard freestyle relay, the team of Cameo Hlebasko, Tai Hallstein, Zoey Watts and Keller Hawkins raced hard to take second place by a fingernail, .04 seconds behind their competitors with a time of 1:41.75.

"Our women gave it their best shot, and had a few little things gone differently, we might have gotten closer to a win," said Head Coach Jenn Blomme. "But our women are probably more tired today than they will be all the rest of the season. We'd rather lose a tough dual meet now, knowing that our training is going to totally pay off when Conference time comes around next month."

It was a true team effort on the men's side, and they exhibited their strengths by winning seven straight events. Sean Terada led the charge in the men's 200 yard freestyle, finishing first in 1:47.49 just ahead of PLU's Corban Elliot; Nick Wechter and Will Erickson took third and fifth, respectively, with times of 1:48.64 and 1:52.18.

Sam Starr followed it up with another win in the men's 50 yard freestyle, nabbing first place by a margin of .03 seconds with a 21.91. Cole Weinstein led the team in the 400 yard Individual Medley, clocking in at 4:15.58 for an outstanding swim and season best time. 

"Cole showed great composure and maturity in that race," said Bendix. "It was such a smart race for such a young swimmer." 

Behind him, Nic Win, Dane Kawamoto and Kincaid Hoffman followed in quick succession to take 3rd, 4th and 5th places. Terada and Karl Mering took wins in the 100 yard butterfly and 100 yard freestyle; Nic Win won the men's 100 yard back and Mering took an unlikely but decisive win in the 500 yard freestyle to complete a seven-event winning streak for the men. 

"We took some risks with our Men's lineup," said Bendix. "We put some events in the hands of two of our freshmen and they rose to the occasion with clutch, fast swims against some of the best swimmers in the NWC, winning each of them. It is a big win for our team and a big boost heading into tomorrow's meet against UPS."

Robby Dorn's season-best swim of 1:01.11 beat out teammate Nick Wechter for second place; Wechter took third with 1:01.54. The men finished up a strong meet with a final win in the 200 yard freestyle relay for Sam Starr, Loic McGiverin-Odeide, Sean Terada and Karl Mering.

"Most of all, I was just proud of the intensity and competitiveness of our team in a situation in which they're so tired. There is no doubt of about the physical toughness of this team, but it's their mental toughness that is going to make the difference," said Blomme.

The teams will be back in the water tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the University of Puget Sound.

See meet results here.