HILLSBORO, Ore. – Following a 2020-21 athletic season and academic year like no other, men’s swimming returns to the Northwest Conference (NWC) beginning Friday, October 29. All nine teams are set to return to the pool in 2021-22 after the official NWC swimming season was cancelled last year.
Whitworth has been selected as the Northwest Conference frontrunner for the 2021 season, as voted on by conference head coaches. The Pirates earned 62 points and six first-place votes. Linfield ranks second in the poll with 57 points and three first-place vote.
Whitman lands in the third spot on the list with 51 points, while Puget Sound received 41 points to rank fourth. Pacific Lutheran earned 36 points to rank fifth followed by Lewis & Clark’s 25 points to land them at sixth. George Fox (22 pts.), Willamette (22 pts.) and Pacific (Ore.) (8 pts) round out the poll.
Pacific (Ore.) will host the NWC Sprint Relays on Friday, October 29 to get conference play off and running.
Below are key returners to watch from each team as well as statistical highlights and NWC accolades from 2019.
KEY RETURNERS/PLAYERS TO WATCH
George Fox
Christian Villacrusis | SR | Breaststroke/Freestyle | 2019: 22.64 (50yd) freestyle at NWC Championships… 50.04 (100yd) freestyle at NWC Championships… 1:05.15 (100yd) breaststroke at NWC Championships
Levi Gibson | SO | Freestyle/Breaststroke | 2019: Earned two Second Team All-NWC honors at the Northwest Conference Championships… 21.54 (50yd) freestyle at NWC Championships… 47.62 (100yd) freestyle at NWC Championships… 59.20 (100yd) breaststroke at NWC Championships.
Aries Valenzuela | FR | Backstroke/Freestyle/Butterfly/Individual Medley
Lewis & Clark
JP Greener | SR | Freestyle/Backstroke | 2019: Named All-NWC Second Team in 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… Set school record in the 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay, 400 Medley Relay at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… Career best in 50 Freestyle (21.33), 100 Freestyle (46.19), 100 Backstroke (53.28) at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… Season-best times: 200 Freestyle (1:50.07) vs George Fox on Nov. 15.
Eric Norman | JR | Freestyle/Backstroke | 2019: Named All-NWC Second Team in 400 Individual Medley, 200 Backstroke at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… Set school record in the 200 Backstroke (1:55.27), 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… Season-best times: 50 Freestyle (22.63), 100 Backstroke (55.77), 100 Butterfly (53.95) at the Bruin Invitational on Nov. 23-24… 100 Freestyle (49.75), 200 Butterfly (2:02.82) vs Pacific on Nov. 16… 200 Freestyle (1:45.69), 200 Individual Medley (1:57.28), 400 Individual Medley (4:11.05) at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… 500 Freestyle (5:03.01) vs George Fox on Nov. 15… 50 Backstroke (27.18) at Willamette on Jan. 18.
Alex Spiecker | SR | Freestyle | 2019: Career best in 50 Freestyle (23.53), 50 Backstroke (27.29) at the Bruin Invitational on Nov. 23-24… 100 Freestyle (52.96) vs Pacific on Nov. 16… 100 Backstroke (59.20) vs George Fox on Nov. 15… 200 Freestyle (1:48.52), 1,650 Freestyle (16:52.52), 500 Freestyle (4:52.12) at the 2020 NWC Championships on Feb. 13-16… 1,000 Freestyle (10:34.29) vs Puget Sound on Nov. 1… Season-best times: 100 Backstroke (59.20) vs George Fox on Nov. 15… 100 Butterfly (56.98) at Bruin Invitational on Nov. 23-24… 200 Butterfly (2:10.08) vs Puget Sound on Nov. 1.
Linfield
Edan Donaldson | JR | Spring Freestyle/Fly/Backstroke | 2019: Letter winner… Named Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, March 30… Recorded a time of 1:38.33 in the 200 medley relay at Lewis & Clark, March 6… Swam a time of 49.84 in the 100 butterfly at George Fox, March 20… Season-best time of 52.67 in the 100 backstroke against Willamette, March 13… Clocked in a time of 48.21 in the 100 freestyle against Willamette, March 13… Recorded a time of 21.47 in the 50 freestyle at Pacific, March 27.
Colby Evenson | SR | Individual Medley/Freestyle/Backstroke/Breaststroke | 2019: Letter winner… Swam a time of 1:52.36 in the 200 freestyle at Pacific, March 27… Recorded a time of 5:24.29 in 500 freestyle at Lewis & Clark, March 6… Clocked in a time of 1:41.21 in 200 medley relay at George Fox, March 20… Swam a time of 1:05.90 in the 100 breaststroke against Willamette, March 13… Clocked in a time of 51.12 in the 100 freestyle against Willamette, March 13… Recorded a time of 56.36 in the 100 backstroke at George Fox, March 20… Swam a time of 2:01.66 in the 200 backstroke at George Fox, March 20.
Garrett Sutton | SR | Sprint Freestyle | 2019: Letter winner… Sprinted to a time of 22.30 in the 50 freestyle at Lewis & Clark, March 6… Raced to a time of 1:38.33 in the 200 medley relay at Lewis & Clark, March 6… Swam a time of 1:54.31 in the 200 freestyle at George Fox, March 20… Recorded a time of 49.64 in the 100 freestyle at Pacific, March 27.
Pacific
Ethan Hunter | SR | Freestyle/Backstroke/Individual Medley | 2019: Placed 22nd overall in the 200 backstroke at the 2020 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships… Placed 3rd in the 500 freestyle in the dual meet against George Fox… Placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle & 500 freestyle in the dual meet against Pacific Lutheran… Placed 7th overall in the 200 backstroke, 17th overall in the 200 IM, & 22nd in the 500 freestyle at the 2019 Bruin Invitational… Placed 3rd in the 200 backstroke in the dual meet against Lewis & Clark.
Hung Huynh | SR | Freestyle/Backstroke/Breaststroke/Butterfly/Individual Medley | 2019: Placed 13th overall in the 100 breaststroke & 15th overall in the 200 butterfly at the 2020 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships… Placed 2nd in the 200 butterfly & 200 freestyle in the dual meet against George Fox… Placed 9th overall in the 100 butterfly, 7th overall in the 200 breaststroke, & 7th overall in the 200 IM at the 2019 Bruin Invitational… Placed 2nd in the 200 butterfly & 200 breaststroke in the dual meet against Lewis & Clark… Placed 1st in the 100 butterfly & 100 breaststroke in the dual meet against University of Puget Sound… Placed 2nd in the 100 breaststroke in the dual meet against Whitman.
Josh Joireman | JR | Freestyle/Breaststroke/Butterfly/Individual Medley | 2019: Placed 13th overall in the 100 freestyle & 14th overall in the 200 freestyle at the 2020 Northwest Conference Swimming Championships… Placed 3rd in the 200 breaststroke in the dual meet against George Fox… Placed 10th overall in the 100 butterfly, 4th overall in the 100 freestyle, & 7th overall in the 500 freestyle at the 2019 Bruin Invitational… Placed 2nd in the 100 freestyle & 500 freestyle in the dual meet against Lewis & Clark… Placed 1st in the 200 freestyle in the dual meet against University of Puget Sound… Placed 2nd in the 50 freestyle in the dual meet against Whitworth… Placed 2nd in the 500 freestyle in the dual meet against Whitman.
Pacific Lutheran
Christiaan Chandler | GR | Freestyle/Breaststroke | 2019: Competed in the NWC Championship in the 50 free, 100 fly, and 100 free. Finished 25th in the 100 free (49.44) and 23rd in the 100 fly (54.16).
Seth Koivisto | SR | Breaststroke/Fly/Individual Medley | 2019: Earned First Team All-NWC in the 100 and 200 breast. Competed at NWC championships in the 200 IM, 100 breast, and 200 breast, and the 200 medley, 400 medley, 200 free, and 400 free relays. Placed 3rd in the 100 breast (57.30) and the 200 breast (2:06.71). Broke school records in 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Jared Toschi | SR | Freestyle/Backstroke | 2019: Competed at the NWC Championships in the 500 free, 1650 free, and 200 back, and the 800 free relay. Finished 15th in the 500 free (4:50.34), 11th in the 1650 free (16:53.85), and 11th in the 200 back (1:59.02).
Puget Sound
Vaughn Christensen | SR | Fly/Freestyle | 2019: During the first home meet in Wallace Pool, Christensen placed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:29.26 (Oct. 12)...
*Elijah Grinstead | SO |
Brett Kolb | JR | Freestyle | 2019: Kolb placed first in the 500-freestyle relay with a time of 4:18.15 during the NCW Relays held in Spokane (Oct. 26) ... Kolb placed first in the 200-breastroke (2:19.95), 200-freestyle (1:46.43), and 100-freestyle (49.01) during the NW Conference meet at Lewis & Clark (Nov.2) ... During theLogger invitational in Wallace Pool Kolb placed second in the 100-freestyle (47.57), second in the 200-freestyle (1:43.17), and first in the 400-IM (4:08.21) (Dec. 8) ... During the events against Whitman in Wallace Pool Kolb won the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:16.58 (Jan. 18) ... Kolb placed first in the 400-IM (4:21.49) and the 100-freestyle (49.65) during the meet at George Fox (Jan. 25) ... During the Senior Day meet in Wallace Pool Kolb took first place in the 400-freestyle relay (3:15.79) (Feb. 1) ... During the four days of the Northwest Conference Championships Kolb earned All NWC Second Team in the 800-freestyle relay, 500-freestyle, 400-freestyle relay and the 200-freestyle (Feb. 16)… 2019 NWC Men’s Freshman of the Year.
Whitman
Michael Chang | SR | Freestyle/Breaststroke/Fly/Individual Medley | 2019: Second Team All-NWC… NWC Championships: 100 fly (51.58), 200 fly (1:54.09), 200 IM (1:56.89)… Top Times: 200 free (1:49.01) 100 breast (1:04.46) 100 fly (51.58), 200 fly (1:53.63) 200 IM (1:56.89) 400 IM (4:20.54).
Tanner Filion | JR | Freestyle/Backstroke/Fly | 2019: NWC Male Freshman Swimmer of the Year… First Team All-NWC… NWC Championships Results: 200 free (1:42.02) 100 back (49.93) 200 back (1:48.51)… Top Times: 5o free (22.60) 100 free (48.39) 200 free (1:42.02) 100 back (49.93) 200 back (1:48.51) 500 free (4:49.11).
*Andrew Hanson | SO | Freestyle/Breaststroke/Fly/Individual Medley
Whitworth
*Connor Florey | JR | Freestyle/Individual Medley |
Ryan Grady | SR | Freestyle | 3-time 2019 NWC Champion… NWC Championships Results: 1st place 100 Y Breast (55.95) 1st place 200 Y Breast (2:00.57) 1st place 500 Y Free (4:36.06)… 2019 NWC Co-Swimmer of the Year… 2019 NCAA All-American Honorable Mention… Named NWC Student-Athlete of the Week, January 14.
Finn McClone | SR | Freestyle/Backstroke | 2019: NWC Championships Results: 2nd place 200 Y Free (1:41.61) 5th place 500 Y Free (4:42.81) 6th place 200 Y Back (1:57.26).. Named NWC Student-Athlete of the Week, November 5.
Willamette
Will Compton | JR | Distance Freestyle/Individual Medley | 2019: Placed 6th at the Northwest Conference Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:38.05 for the fourth-best time in WU history... Swam the first 1,000 in 10:02.62 (6th all-time for the Bearcats)... Placed 12th in the NWC in the 200-yard butterfly after setting a personal-best of 1:57.57 in the prelims.
Robbie Daugherty | SR | Distance Freestyle | 2019: Placed 15th in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the Northwest Conference Championships in 2019... Was 16th in the 1,650 at the NWC Meet in 2020 in a personal-best time of 17:35.03 ... Also set a top time of 1:48.00 at the 2020 NWC Meet in the prelims of the 200-yard freestyle
*Julius Wilhelmi | SO | Sprint Freestyle |
(Points awarded on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes)
| Team |
Pts. |
2019 NWC Finish |
| Whitworth (6) |
62 |
1st |
| Linfield (3) |
57 |
2nd |
| Whitman |
51 |
3rd |
| Puget Sound |
41 |
4th |
| Pacific Lutheran |
36 |
6th |
| Lewis & Clark |
25 |
5th |
| George Fox |
22 |
8th |
| Willamette |
22 |
7th |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
8 |
9th |
For the complete 2021 NWC swimming schedule, click
here.
*Newcomer to the NWC. Did not compete in 2019.