This past Saturday, Jan. 23, Whitman’s hopes of a perfect season were abruptly halted as Whitworth University manhandled both the men and women, 139-66. This loss comes at the hands of the reigning Northwest Conference champions. The Whitworth Pirates bested the Missionaries in nearly every race.
For the women, the only light came in the shape of sophomore Monica Boshart, who won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:12.92. She fought off Whitworth’s upstart first-year Melissa Barringer and took the race with over a half second deficit.
“Monica swam an inspired race in the 100 breast this weekend,” said Head Coach Jennifer Blomme. “[She] is a fierce competitor and I was not at all surprised to see her race so well, bringing home our only individual event win.”
Despite her success, Boshart remained focused on the future of the team.
“I don’t think that my race was particularly special. I made a decision to go after the person in the lane next to me and it paid off . . . There will be other races, most likely against those same girls, where the outcome will probably change. If anything, it just showed that there is still a chance to bring down a strong team like Whitworth,” Boshart said.
The Whitman women finished off the meet by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:44.06. The relay team was led by junior Lauren Flynn and includes first-years Charlotte Graham, Helen Jenne and Katie Chapman.
The men’s side benefited from a small mental error from Whitworth’s 200-yard freestyle relay team. In the very last event of the meet, the Pirates committed a false start, disqualifying them from the race, giving the men their only victory of the afternoon. Whitman’s relay consisted of seniors Eric Molnar and Nick Hurlburt and first-years Adam Brayton and Paul Chang. They took the race in 1:33.13.
This past Saturday’s meet was a unique learning experience for the Missionaries. With an established powerhouse team in the Pirates: who boast a roster which includes Natalie Turner, a senior who placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division III National Tournament last March: the up-and-coming Whitman swimmers knew they were in for a challenge. Despite Whitworth’s depth and talent, the Missionaries remained hopeful, if somewhat battle-ready.
“Going in to the meet, all we had in our minds was that we weren’t going down without a fight; we weren’t going to just hand them the win,” said Chapman.
This sentiment was echoed by the rest of the team, but despite the positive attitude, Saturday ended with a bitter taste in the mouths of Whitman swimmers. Yet for some, their loss was not quite as bitter. Sophomore Matt Liedtke swam a 54.7 in the 100-yard butterfly, a personal best. Under most circumstances, that’s enough to win the race, but against Whitworth, he fell short by a quarter of a second.
Graham, last week’s Northwest Conference Swimmer of the Week, set a season best in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:59.26, despite the five-second loss to the Pirate’s Turner.
The sting of defeat is a rare one for the Missionaries, but in this particular contest Coach Blomme pointed out the many positives that came from it.
“At the end of the day we went home with some season best times and even a lifetime best or two, which is practically unheard of at this time of the season. So we were extremely happy with our performance as a team,” she said.
Despite this single blemish, the team remains optimistic for its season.
“If anything, our swimmers are even more focused and more excited about the championships coming up in February,” said Blomme.
But before the Missionaries set their sights on the Northwest Conference Championships in February, they’ll have to contend with the University of Puget Sound Loggers this weekend. The Loggers and Whitworth’s Pirates are the only teams undefeated in Northwest Conference action.
