Swimming scores two wins against Pacific
By Sam Taylor
Sports Information Assistant
Team Points:
Lewis & Clark Women: 111, Pacific Women: 76
Lewis & Clark Men: 124.5, Pacific Men: 73.5
PORTLAND, Ore. - Friday was a good night for the Pioneers as both men's and women's swim teams scored wins over the Boxers. "We had some good swims" said Pioneer Assistant Coach Michael Miller, "We've got room to improve but we did what we wanted to tonight."
The Pioneer women stood behind the strength of their youth, with sophomore Abbie Heibein controlling the distance events with solid wins in both the 1000 and 500 Freestyle and freshman Rachael Cazden powering through the sprints to take wins in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Freshman Gail Wilcoxen provided much of the excitement for the evening, taking two close wins in the 200 Freestyle and the 200 Butterfly. Cat Menkel-Lawrence brought home the final victory for the Pioneers with a win in the 200 Backstroke. The Pio 400 Freestyle relay finished off the meet in style with a seven second win over the Boxers, with Hebein, Cazden, and Wilcoxen joined by freshman Hannah Frank to make it three wins each.
The Pioneer men relied on wins from Sophmore Steven Carreno in the 100 Butterfly, Sophmore Noah Boring in the 50 Freestyle, Seinor Zac Hixson in the 200 Individual Medley, and Freshman Josh Spegman in the 500 Freestyle. In addition the other swimmers of the Pioneer men's program were able to employ a weapon they've not enjoyed for a few years; team depth. In the 1000 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, and 200 Breaststroke, the Pioneers swam multiple entries and were able to score enough points to blunt the effect of individual Boxer victories. Starting and ending the evening with relay victories, the Pioneer Men looked like a strong cohesive squad in their win, moving to 2-0 on their young season.
Head Coach Chris Fantz was very pleased with his squads performance; "We swam an exceptional team meet top to bottom. Our athletes swam smart races and won the close ones. This has been a focus in our preparation and they came through in a big way tonight.”
Next weekend the Pioneers host the Northwest Invitational, welcoming teams from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California to Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion.
