.SPOKANE - Last year, the Whitman men brought a dramatic end to the 90-meet winning streak of the perennially dominant Whitworth men's team, pulling off an historic win by a margin of 4 points.
This year, however, Whitworth re-asserted itself over Whitman, handing the men their first loss of the season in their final dual meet. The final scores were 183-79. The women's score ended at 155-107.Â
The Whitman men now stand at second in the NWC behind Whitworth, going into the regular-season finale NWC Championship meet with a record of 6-1; the women are ranked third in Conference behind Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran, with a record of 5-2.Â
"We lost big time today. But we knew it was going to be really tough to beat these guys again this year," said Assistant Coach Chris Bendix after the meet. "Now we focus entirely on Conference and Nationals. I'm not in the least bit concerned about it."
Tai Hallstein continued her winning standard by providing both of Whitman's victories on the women's side. Hallstein took first in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle over Whitworth's Alisa Stang. She finished the 50 yard distance in 24.60 seconds; her time in the 100 was a 53.76. Hallstein will go into the Championship meet with the fastest 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle times this season in the NWC.Â
Whitman victories for the men came in the 50 and 200 yard freestyle, where
Sam Starr and
Karl Mering each stepped up to nab first. Mering's time of 1:44.69 was well behind his NWC-leading time of 1:40.69, which he swum last December at the Husky Invitational.Â
Mering, the defending NWC Champion in the men's 100 yard butterfly, has also posted the fastest time in the 100 yard butterfly, the 100 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle in the NWC this season. Starr will enter the meet having swum the second-fastest times in the NWC this season in the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke.
"It was a rough day for us," said Head Coach Jenn Blomme. "Whitworth simply swam faster than we did today. But that's no indication of where we will be in two weeks. I know we'll be right where we want to be when we get to the Championships."
The NWC Championship Meet will be hosted by Whitman at the KCAC pool in Federal Way, Washington, from February 14-16.
See full meet results
here.
