Swimming Drops A Pair, Honors Seniors

1/24/2026 5:40:00 PM

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — In a fittingly dramatic sendoff to their home pool, the Whitman College swimming teams both came up just short against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday afternoon at the Louise and Paul Harvey Pool.The Blues men dropped a heart-stopping 102.5–101.5 decision that came down to the final relay, while the women's squad fell 130–75 in the final home meet of the season.

Prior to the start of the meet, the Blues honored seniors Owen Hughes, Ian McClelland, Annaliese Hanson, Sienna Hayes, Cassidy Monroe and Elly Rectenwald for their years of service to Whitman swimming.

Whitman's men nearly erased an early relay deficit behind strong mid-meet performances, highlighted by a dominant win from Adrian Dulong in the 500 freestyle (4:56.17) and a 1–2 punch from Keenan Riggs-Turpin and Finn Stukerjurgen in the 400 individual medley.

Ian McClelland also delivered a key victory in the 100 butterfly (52.60), and the Blues piled up sprint points with McClelland, Brodie Salzbrener and others in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.

The meet came down to the 200 freestyle relay, where Whitman's squad of Tyson Scott, McClelland, Salzbrener and Elliot Yung pushed the Lutes to the wall before Pacific Lutheran edged out the win, 1:29.07 to 1:29.38, sealing the one-point team margin. Yung also tied for first earlier in the 100 freestyle, touching in 49.38 to share the top spot with PLU's Anthony James.

On the women's side, Whitman was paced by standout swims from Avery Riley, who won the 200 freestyle (2:02.28) and 100 butterfly (1:01.28) and added a gritty third victory in the 500 freestyle (5:30.14). Avery's efforts were supported by strong distance performances from Siena Hayes and Darrah Lerch in the 1650 and 500, as well as a runner-up finish from Teague Monahan in the 100 freestyle (56.72).

Both Whitman relays battled at the front of the field throughout the meet, with the women's 200 medley relay taking second by less than a second and the 200 free relay also finishing runner-up in one of the afternoon's tightest races.

The Blues close out the regular season next Saturday at Whitworth before turning their attention to the Northwest Conference Championships which run from Feb. 13-15.

#GoWhitman

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