Battling through two cases of the flu and three days of competition, the men’s and women’s swim team were able to come away with a fifth place finish in the Northwest Conference Sun, Feb. 7.
The Boxers broke 16 school records over the course of the NWC championships with the men setting ten new school records and the women breaking six.
Head Coach Alec Webster said he was proud of both teams for their successes at the tournament.
“I feel really good about how things went and the fact that the team broke records shows that they have improved,” said Webster.
Webster said that fifth place was an achievement considering the small numbers on the squads and having two swimmers, Laura Ross and Allison Clark, swim while having the flu.
Despite being sick, Clark still managed to be the top individual finisher for the women in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:31.40.
The women had an impressive turnout with senior Cherice Cochrane ending her Pacific swim career by setting a new school record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.28.
Cochrane was also joined by teammates Alex Bing, Kelli Kronsberg and Keely Craig in the 400-yard freestyle where they took a fifth place finish.
The men’s side finished just shy of fourth place by eight points. Webster said the men had a phenomenal last night of competition coming up behind Pacific Lutheran University after being behind 20 points.
Freshman Michael Hargitt was the first men’s swimmer to make the national cut, which means he could still have a chance of going to nationals.
Hargitt finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:09.43, breaking the school record he set earlier this season of 2:14.02.
Dylan Cramer finished third in the men’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:55.21, Cramer broke the record he had set himself earlier this season in that event.
Joel Cowley, Alejandro Contreras, Cramer and Scott Kimura also broke Pacific’s 400-yard freestyle relay record with a time of 3:18.36.
Webster said that the team had a strong finish and he was proud of the progress they made but the Boxers will be taking a loss with their seniors Cochrane, Julie Garner, Kimura, Ben Griffin, Luke Fuller and Contreras graduating this spring.
Although the team will be losing these seniors, Webster said there will be a number of recruits next year and he could see both teams improving in the future.
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