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Naji Saker

Swimming Caps NWC Championship, Riley Named Co-Swimmer of the Year

BOISE, Idaho - The Whitman College swimming teams capped the 2026 Northwest Conference Championships with matching fourth-place finishes for the men's and women's teams, highlighted by sophomore Avery Riley's selection as NWC Women's Co-Swimmer of the Year after a title-winning performance in the 200-yard butterfly on Sunday night.​

"After day 2 of swimming we thought we had a good chance at 3rd for both teams, which we would have been really proud of given how dominant Whitworth and Puget Sound have been all year and also this weekend," said head coach Jenn Blomme. " Our swimmers have been performing really well, lots of people having season and lifetime best times. Unfortunately we have also been hit hard with illness. Several people had to scratch events and others while they gave it 110% effort just weren't at full capacity due to illness. So when we consider all that, we ended up really quite proud of our accomplishments this weekend."

On the women's side, Whitman finished fourth with 386 points, closing behind Pacific Lutheran (410) and just ahead of George Fox (381) and Linfield (363). The men's team also secured fourth place with 392.5 points, narrowly trailing Linfield (394.5) and pulling well clear of Pacific Lutheran (287.5) in the overall standings.​

Riley powered to the conference title in the women's 200-yard butterfly, stopping the clock in 2:07.23 after entering the final as the top seed at 2:09.75. She returned to anchor Whitman's 400-yard freestyle relay, swimming the fourth leg as the Blues placed third in 3:36.35 with a senior-heavy lineup of Anneliese Hanson, Cassidy Monroe, Elly Rectenwald, and Riley, trimming nearly two seconds off their 3:38.35 seed time. On the strength of her individual win and relay impact over the weekend, Riley was voted NWC Women's Co-Swimmer of the Year, adding a major conference honor to her growing resume.​

The Whitman women turned in a strong closing session across the board. In the 200-yard butterfly, Riley led a two-Blue A-final as first-year Teague Monahan joined her in the championship heat and finished sixth in 2:16.54 after a 2:21.96 prelim swim. The 100-yard freestyle final featured four Whitman seniors, with Monroe placing fourth in 54.61, Rectenwald finishing sixth in 54.82, and Hanson taking eighth in 54.92 after prelims of 55.19, 54.32, and 54.86, respectively.​

On the men's side, Whitman's Sunday session was highlighted by the butterfly and sprint freestyle. In the 200-yard butterfly, junior Keenan Riggs-Turpin surged to a runner-up finish in 1:53.71, dropping from 1:54.60 in prelims, while senior Ian McClelland earned sixth in 1:56.61 as part of a strong A-final presence for the Blues. In the 100-yard freestyle, junior Brodie Salzbrener placed sixth in the A-final at 46.75 after qualifying in 46.60, and first-year Tyson Scott added B-final points with a 15th-place swim of 48.60. The men's 400-yard freestyle relay of Adrian Dulong, McClelland, Scott, and Salzbrener grabbed fifth in 3:08.44, a significant drop from their 3:13.82 seed time to close the meet with another relay finals appearance.​

Whitman's distance groups also delivered important points on the final day. In the men's 1650-yard freestyle, first-year Calvin Tappert placed eighth in 16:54.25, while classmate Flynn Davis Lawrence finished 15th in 18:16.34 and senior Owen Hughes added a 16th-place 19:42.97 in his final conference race. On the women's side of the mile, sophomore Darrah Lerch (10th, 19:19.29), senior Siena Hayes (11th, 19:21.32), and first-year Sam Dennis (23rd, 21:30.45) completed the grueling 1650 to help solidify Whitman's fourth-place team finish.
 
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