LOOKING TOWARD NATIONALS

While the Loggers didn't take home the team titles, the University of Puget Sound men's and women's swim programs had an outstanding Northwest Conference Championship last weekend at the King County Aquatic Center. On the weekend, the Loggers met 10 provisional qualifying marks and one automatic qualifying mark.

Friday

On day one of the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash., the Puget Sound Loggers put themselves in a strong position to contend for a pair of NWC crowns, holding down second place on both the men's and women's sides.

In the first final of the evening, the Logger women battled Whitworth for all 200 yards of the Freestyle Relay, finishing just 16 one-hundredths of a second behind the Pirates for second place with a time of 1:38.44.

The Logger men exacted revenge in the second final, setting a new NWC Championship Meet record time of 1:25.29 to collect the conference title in the Men's 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.

In the women's 500 Freestyle, the Loggers used a strong prelim session to stack the deck in the A Final, placing four swimmers in the race. In the final, Sarah Mirick (Chaska, Minn.) led the Loggers, placing fourth with a time of 5:10.14.

Senior Leesa Cotton (Keizer, Ore.) earned the Loggers their first individual championship of the weekend, taking first in the 200 Individual Medley with a B-cut qualifying time of 2:10.82. Teammate Amy Polansky (Menomonie, Wis.) took fourth while Evan Connolly (Zionsville, Ind.) finished eighth.

In the men's 200 Individual Medley, junior Paul Hughes (University Place, Wash.) finished with a B-cut qualifying time of 1:54.23 but was edged out by just 11 one-hundredths of a second by Michael Woodward of Whitworth.

It was another close race in the women's 50 Freestyle as sophomore Katie Barton (Boise, Idaho) placed third for the Loggers with a time of 24.71, just one-hundredth of a second behind second place Ashley Lecoq of Whitworth. Brittany Gresset, also of Whitworth, won the race in a time of 24.08.

In the men's 50 Free, Bret Schluederberg (Chapel Hill, N.C.) posted the fastest preliminary time at 21.60 but place third in the final with a time of 21.69. Linfield's Dominic Rieniets took the title with a time of 21.17.

The Loggers finished the first day strong, sweeping the 400 Medley Relays. On the women's side, Puget Sound was victorious with a time of 4:00.55. On the men's side, the Loggers broke the meet record and met the B-cut qualifying time by winning with a mark of 3:26.99.

Saturday

Much to the delight of the Puget Sound Loggers, day two of the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships began much like day one ended as the Loggers swept the evening session-opening relays on Saturday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

The Loggers women bettered their 2007 NWC winning time in the 200 Medley Relay, posting a time of 1:50.49 to hold off Whitworth by three-tenths of a second. On the men's side, Puget Sound swam a B-cut Qualifying mark of 1:34.45, a new championship meet record and the seventh-fastest time in Division III this season according to d3swimming.com, to collect the conference crown in the event.

Once the individual results began, the Loggers continued to swim well. In the women's 400 IM, Sarah Mirick (Chaska, Minn.) overcame nearly a one-second deficit over the final 50 yards to win with a time of 4:39.40.

The Loggers made some ground in the points race during the women's 100 Fly, as Kelsey Elizondo (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Mac MacAfee (Los Gatos, Calif.) finished third and fourth with times of 1:00.05 and 1:00.22 respectively.

In the 100 Breaststroke, the Loggers flexed their collective muscle. In the women's race, Amy Polansky (Melonomie, Wis.) won easily with a time of 1:07.59, tying the B-Cut Qualifying time. Teammate Kelley O'Dell (Golden, Colo.) took second with a time of 1:10.59.

On the men's side, the Loggers were just as dominant as the fraternal duo of Paul Hughes (University Place, Wash.) and Aaron Hughes (University Place, Wash.) finished one-two. Paul swam a 56.14 to set a new NWC record and post the second-fastest time in the nation, meeting the A-Cut Qualifying time by over three-tenths of a second. Aaron swam a 58.03 to meet the B-Cut Qualifying time.

In the final individual events of the evening, Leesa Cotton (Keizer, Ore.) put together a strong performance in the 100 Backstroke, finishing second with a B-Cut Qualifying time of 59.41. Jackson Kowalski (Keizer, Ore.) took second on the men's side, finishing with a time of 58.97, just 15 one-hundredths of a second behind Kevin Caple of Linfield.

Puget Sound swam its way to a second-place finish in the Women's 800 Freestyle Relay, posting a time of 8:03.10. Whitworth set a new meet record, finishing with a time of 7:45.45.

Sunday

It could be called the end of an era but for the Puget Sound Loggers, the 2008 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships was an extremely successful meet. For the first time since 1997, the Logger women did not take home the conference championships but Puget Sound put together a pair of rock-solid second place finishes in both the men's and women's team standings.

The final session of the weekend began as a strong representation of how the meet was going as Whitworth and Puget Sound went one-two in the Women's 1650 Freestyle. Natalie Turner of Whitworth established a new meet record of 17:28.98 to take first while Sarah Mirick (Chaska, Minn.) finished second with a B-Cut Qualifying time of 17:41.79.

On the men's side of the 1650 Freestyle, the Loggers placed two swimmers in the top eight as Erik Doran (Maple Grove, Minn.) placed sixth with a time of 17:34.13 while Zach Benton (Hillsboro, Ore.) took eighth with a time of 18:08.12.

In the Women's 200 Backstroke, senior Katie Wilson (West Linn, Ore.) took third with a time of 2:11.55 after narrowly making the A Final with the eighth best time in prelims. Jackson Kowalski (Keizer, Ore.) gave the Loggers their first individual title of the session in the Men's 200 Backstroke, beating out Kevin Caple of Linfield with a time of 1:54.02, a B-Cut Qualifying time.

Freshman Katie Barton (Boise, Idaho) and senior Leesa Cotton (Keizer, Ore.) took third and fourth in the 100 Yard Freestyle with times of 54.77 and 54.93 respectively. On the men's side, Bret Schluederberg (Chapel Hill, N.C.) took fifth with a time of 48.30.

The Loggers dominated the 200 Breaststroke as expected. Amy Polansky (Menomonie, Wis.) won going-away on the women's side with a time of 2:27.65, nearly six and one-half seconds quicker than the second-place finisher. On the men's side, Paul Hughes (University Place, Wash.) won easily with a time of 2:05.94, meeting the NCAA B-Cut Qualifying time. Aaron Hughes (University Place, Wash.) took third with a time of 2:10.32 while freshman Jack Zaharchuk (Portland, Ore.) finished fourth with a time of 2:11.20.

In the final events of the evening, the Logger women finished second in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:37.25 to clinch the second-place team finish. Whitworth concluded its championship run by taking first with a time of 3:33.97.

On the men's side, a third-place finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay was good enough to take second-place in the team standings. The Loggers finished with a time of 3:11.97 in the final event of the weekend.

On the women's side, Whitworth ended Puget Sound's NWC title streak at 11 years as the Pirates collected 793 points to win the 2008 crown. The Loggers finished with 692 points, followed by Whitman (411), Lewis & Clark (392), Willamette (258), Linfield (249), Pacific Lutheran (247) and Pacific (130).

On the men's side, the Pirates successfully defended their title with 703.5 points. Puget Sound put together a strong championship to finish in second with 601 points, followed by Linfield (489), Whitman (443.5), Pacific Lutheran (402), Lewis & Clark (206), Willamette (159) and Pacific (147).

Logger head coach Chris Myhre was named NWC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year. Whitworth's Steve Schadt was named NWC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year. The Outstanding Swimmers of the Year were both repeats of 2007 as Whitworth's Natalie Turner won on the women's side, while Linfield's Dom Rienits won the men's award.

National Qualifying Times

The Coach

Chris Myhre returns as head coach of the Logger swim program. A graduate of the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Myhre has coached 71 NAIA All-Americans, 16 NCAA All-Americans, 11 individual NAIA National Champions and led the Loggers to NAIA team titles for women in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and men's titles from 1995-97.

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