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Wildcats flounder against Loggers

Posted by :jprokop On : November 14, 2011
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Traveling to Tacoma, Wash., the two swim teams geared up for their first dual meet of the season. Linfield fell to the University of Puget Sound on Nov. 11 and 12.

“This weekend, our team really came together and supported each other,” junior Rhiannon Ladwig said. “The team spirit was high and I think we made a strong Linfield presence against UPS.”

Though the men’s team fell 97-164 against the Loggers, it didn’t go down without a fight. Junior Seth Ruwitch placed first in both the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing in 1:12.30, and the 200-meter breaststroke, coming in at 2:24.16. He also placed second in the 400-meter individual medley, which he finished in 5:13.72.

“Our team has improved in a number of ways since our last meet, but most notably I would say that everyone seems much more determined this time around,” senior Marc Pereira said in an email. “We had some tough events at some tough pools this weekend. The temperature and the architecture at the pools this weekend were difficult to deal with, but overall we did pretty well. I expect our times will be improving a lot in the next few weeks.”

Junior Miles Phillips and sophomore Lee Rivers also placed well. Phillips placed second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:09.49, and Rivers placed second in his three events.

For the women’s team, sophomore Natalie Groat placed first in the 200-meter freestyle. Meanwhile, freshman Kelcie Kimura placed first in the 50-meter freestyle, beating University of Puget Sound swimmer Ava Williams by .05 seconds.

“There were many great swims, and I think Natalie Groat had an amazing weekend. She swam the 200 butterfly each day and also did well with the 200 free against UPS,” Ladwig said. “Also, Alex Lyles was a freshman who did very well. He was put in difficult events and pulled through with a great time and a smile.”

Athletes who were on the team in previous years have high hopes for this year’s team.

“The team hopes to rank much higher this year than we did last year,” Pereira said. “ I think it’s an achievable goal too, with our bigger number of swimmers and the new talent we have.”

The Wildcats will host their next six meets, with the next competition being the Northwest Invitational.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Swim teams jump in with a bonding meet

Posted by :jprokop On : October 31, 2011
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The Wildcat men’s and women’s swim teams started the season off Oct. 28 and 29 in Spokane, Wash., against the other six conference swim teams.

The meet consisted of more than 200 swimmers, creating a fun bonding experience for the Linfield swim teams.

The first day of the meet, the swimmers competed in a sprint pentathlon. Each swimmer swam the 100-yard individual medley, the 50-yard butterfly, the 50-yard backstroke, the 50-yard breast stroke and the 50-yard freestyle.

The women’s team sent 25 competitors to the meet.

 For the first event of the meet, the women’s 100-yard individual medley, the top Wildcat competitor was  freshman Kelcie Kimura, who swam the event in 1:05.95. Kimura placed 13th out of 109 places.

 The women’s second event was the 50-yard butterfly, where sophomore Natalie Groat tied for 16th place, with a time of 29.18.

 For the women’s 50-yard backstroke, Linfield sophomore Maggie May received 13th place finishing the race in 30.6 seconds.

Placing the highest of all the women in the meet for the Wildcats was freshman Brandi Halemano in the 50-yard breaststroke who came in 7th place with a time of 33.7 seconds.

 In the final women’s event, the 50-yard freestyle, Kimura placed 27th finishing the race in 27.14 seconds.

Overall, the first day ended with Linfield women’s team in 6th of the seven teams.

Freshman MacKenzie Green said that the team has pushed to reduce its times.

“We’re did well considering our last two weeks of practice, we’re working really hard to improve times and get faster,” Green said. “The last two weeks have been hard with us going hard the first week, and the second week was for recovery but we still went hard.”

Swimming the same events, the men’s team fared just as well as the women’s.

The men’s top competitor for the entire meet was sophomore Lee Rivers, who placed 16th and finished the race in 57.84 seconds in 100-yard individual medley.

Rivers also placed the highest for the 50-yard butterfly, finishing in 17th place with a time of 25.57.

He also finished 20th for the 50-yard backstroke and finished 34th for the 50-yard freestyle.

The top competitor for the 50-yard breaststroke was junior Seth Ruwitch who placed 5th with a time of 29.34 seconds.

Rivers said that the combination of new skill and seasoned talent creates a team with a solid dynamic.

“I feel like everyone has high hopes for the team this season,” Rivers said. “We got a lot of new talent that came in this year, and all the returning swimmers want to see them swim fast. Most of all, though, I care about holding on to the great team dynamic we’ve developed already this season.”

The second day of the competition was made up of relays.

Green described the relay meet as a “fun meet.” The day was filled with bonding, “but with being on a bus so long, what else can you do?”

In starting the season, the Wildcats welcomed 21 freshmen to the team.

With the team off to a good start, Rivers said that having all these new swimmers will create new opportunities for everyone.

“We have a huge number of new swimmers that came on the team this year, and they bring with them a lot of advantages,” Rivers said.  “The added number of swimmers allows for more people to do events that they are best in. With a limited number of swims in a meet, this frees up people to compete in their fast races.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams finished the relay meet in 6th place out of the seven teams, but left the meet feeling much more like a family.

Green said that in addition to getting faster times, the team has worked on connecting as a group of athletes and as a family with shared goals.

“We’ve been bonding more and more, getting closer and becoming a family and breaking down social barriers,” Green said. “Everyone is supporting each other, and we’re all pushing each other.”

The Wildcats will swim Nov. 11 and 12 in Tacoma, Wash., against Pacific Lutheran University and Puget Sound University.

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

’Cat swimmers have sights on conference

Posted by :jprokop On : February 18, 2011
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The Wildcats swim team has been working intensely since its last meet before January Term. From morning practices before class to evening practices and meets on the weekends, the ’Cats have had a lot going on.

They traveled to Whitman College, Whitworth University and Lewis & Clark College, as well as hosted Pacific and
Willamette universities all throughout the season. Although the men and women came up short as a team at the Whitman and Whitworth meets, many swimmers beat personal bests and increased their yardage.

The men triumphed over Lewis & Clark on Jan. 21, with a score of 104-96. The team also prevailed over Willamette with the men scoring 123-32 and the women taking 132-64 over the Bearcats.

Sophomore Miles Phillips was one of few who achieved a personal best during the break.

“A lot of us broke our personal records and improved independently as well as a whole team,” he said. “It’s been a long
season but a great one.”

Overall the Wildcats worked together to stay positive during the term. Even if they did not win the meet as a whole, many of the men and women won first place individually against their competition and set personal records.

Sophomore CatherineNakamura said that she and her teammates trained and practiced hard, and stayed constructive throughout the winter break despite injuries.

“It was a tough month, and we ended the dual meet season with a huge win over Willamette,” she said.

The next event will be at the NWC Conference in Gresham, Ore., on Feb. 25, 26 and 27. This will be the first time in several years that the meet will not be held in Federal Way, Wash.

“Everyone is looking forward to the conference that’s finally coming up,” Nakamura said. “The end of the season is just around the corner, and everyone is looking forward to seeing all their hard work pay off.”

Lauren Ostrom/For the Review
Lauren Ostrom can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Swim team uses time off to recover, practice

Posted by :jprokop On : February 18, 2011
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The swim team is resting up and preparing for the remainder of its conference season. The Wildcats have no meets until Jan. 14, when they will take on Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
With the time off, coach Gary Gutierezz said he is excited for the chance his team has to recover and improve on its times from previous meets.
“It allows us to go back to the training pool and improve on the things we saw in the meets,” he said. “We have a lot to do in terms of conditioning, race strategy and mental approach to competing.”
Freshman Lee Rivers said he is excited for the month off because he knows that having time to focus on practicing is important for the team.
“I know that everyone on the team can see improvements in performance by watching practice, and everyone — myself
included — is noticing a dramatic increase in cardio and speed from earlier in the season,” he said.
While the team will have a chance to increase its conditioning and prepare for the upcoming championship meets, there is a downside to not having a meet for so long. Sophomore Katie Main said it can be hard to keep focused for such a long period of time but also said that she thinks the team was staying focused and using the time effectively.
“Sometimes, it can be challenging to be practicing for that long without being able to track one’s progress in a meet,” she said. “Also, meets provide great bonding time for the team. I think we’ll really use this time wisely.”
The Wildcats next home meet will be at 1 p.m. on Jan. 29 against Pacific University.

Jerry Young/For the Review
Jerry Young can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Swimmers barely stay afloat

Posted by :jprokop On : December 4, 2010
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Sophomore Seth Ruwitch swims the 400m individual medley on Nov. 13 against University of Puget Sound. Victor Zhu/For the Review

The Linfield swim team has an 0-2 Northwest Conference record.
The Wildcats have competed in six events so far, and head coach Gary Gutierrez said he has been pleased with how the men’s and women’s teams have performed.
“We’re doing good. We are down this year and we lost a lot of talent,” he said. “They are working hard and have their noses to the grindstone racing hard.”
The Wildcats opened the season at home in the NWC relays on Oct. 30, and they placed sixth in both the men and women’s events. After that, Linfield competed in its first two conference meets against Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound on the Nov. 12 and 13, respectively.
The men lost to Pacific Lutheran 64-139, while the women lost 62-143.
While the scores may not show it, sophomore Rachel Codd thinks the team is making strides in the right direction.
“I think the team has swam well so far considering that we have been working hard,” she said. “I think we have a lot of people getting faster, although it might not show in their performances at this point in time.”
After a week of practice and recovery, Linfield headed to the Northwest Invitational in Tacoma, Wash. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished in fifth place out of the six teams at the meet. Sophomore Katie Main said she was happy with the teams’ efforts.
“We were really supportive and many of the swimmers really stepped up during a long meet to have some good swims for this time in the season.”
As the season rolls along, the Wildcats aim to improve and win some meets.
While winning individual events is great, Gutierrez pointed out that they don’t have to win every event to be successful.
“My first year here, we won the men’s conference championship and only won two individual events,” Gutierrez said. “The team knows that you can not win any individual event but still win the meet.”
Lee Rivers is a promising freshman on the men’s side, and Main and Codd have shown potential on the women’s team.
Codd also said that Gutierrez does a great job making sure the team has a good time but also swims well.
“Coach Gary [Gutierrez] is really enthusiastic about what he does, which is really motivating. He loves to joke around, so he brings a great sense of humor to the team,” Codd said. “He knows how to push us to the limits of what we are capable of doing, even if we don’t think we can do something.”
The Wildcats have several road trips coming up on their schedule. Their next home meet takes place at 1 p.m. on Jan. 29 against the Pacific University Boxers.

Jerry Young/For the Review
Jerry Young can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

’Cats splash into new season

Posted by :jprokop On : November 5, 2010
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Junior Marc Pereira competes in the men’s 100-meter butterfly relay race at home during the NWC relays on Oct. 30. Victor Zhu/Freelancer

Linfield’s men’s and women’s swim teams competed in their season opener against all of the Northwest Conference teams Oct. 29 and 30. Friday’s sprint meet was held at Willamette University, while Saturday’s relay races took place at home.
Swimmers said that the meet provided them an opportunity to scope out the competition for the season and see what teams will be the strongest.
“Everyone participates in the same races, so it’s a great meet to watch teams compete,” freshman Lee Rivers said.
The men’s and women’s team placed sixth out of seven and had a team score of 48, which set them at sixth place. Whitworth University swept the races, taking first place on both the men’s and women’s sides and ending with a combined score of 186.
“Whitworth will be our hardest competition,” senior Tyler Huynh said. “They have a huge team.”
With only 11 swimmers on the men’s side, most being underclassmen, the team is going to look to the veterans for leadership and to the newcomers for fresh talent. Huynh and juniors Conor Colahan and Marc Pereira will be the only upperclassmen competing this season. Although the men’s team is small and young, it plans on working hard and developing skills to compete against hard competition.
The women’s team has a larger roster of 26, with many newcomers as well. Senior Adriana Daoust, sophomores Stephanie Longmate and Katie Main and freshmen Natalie Groat and Nicole Paulachak will contribute greatly to team success this season.
“The freshmen are looking great. I want to be supportive for the newcomers,” Daoust said. “I want us to have the best sportsmanship and attitude in the pool.”
With all of the young swimmers, the teams plan to use to their advantage.
Head coach Gary Gutierrez is in his 13th season. Both teams enjoy his laid-back coaching methods and his confidence in his athletes.
“He has a great coaching style,” Huynh said. “He’s very helpful with his teaching techniques and drills.”
This season will bring the Wildcats a lot of competition, but both teams plan to improve times and place higher at conference than in previous years.
“The team dynamics are really good. We have great team chemistry,” Rivers said. “I’m excited to watch everyone improve throughout the season.”
The Wildcats will host their next meet at 1 p.m. Nov. 6. The women’s team will compete against Mills College and College of Idaho, and the men will also compete against College of Idaho.
“We competed against College of Idaho last year,” Daoust said. “They provide good competition, and it’s a great meet to start the season off with.”

Katey Barger/Staff reporter
Katey Barger can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Sports briefs

Posted by :jprokop On : October 22, 2010
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Golf
The men’s golf team competed in the Whitman Invitational on Oct. 16 and 17, finishing one stroke behind Whitworth University.
On the first day of the tournament, senior Yutaro Sakamoto carded a season-best, five-under-par 67.
With a 72, junior Alex Fitch took fourth place.
Whitworth was in the lead with a 292, and the Wildcats were behind by five strokes.
On the second day, Sakamoto remained in the lead and received medalist honors for a total score of 139.
Junior Alex Fitch hit a round-best 71 on Oct. 17 and finished with a total score of one-under-par 143.
Freshmen Tommy Schmitz and A.J. Taylor tied for 18th place with scores of 156.
The Wildcats ended their game five strokes behind Whitworth to one stroke down for a final score of 592.

-Compiled by Tim Marl

Swimming
Half of last year’s swimmers graduated, and the team this year is as fresh as the water in the pool.
Team captains junior Marc Pereira and senior Adriana Daoust said they see this year as an opportunity to grow a new team into a close-knit unit capable of winning and producing a new generation of Linfield swimmers.
They organize weekly bonding events, such as pantless Tuesdays and “feed the upperclassmen” brunches. The two ensure that, although the teams are separated by gender, they are not treating them as such.
Head coach Gary Gutierrez, said the team’s youth can be a beneficial factor.
“Having role models to look up to is good, but having too many talented people can be off-putting,” he said.
As for specifics on what he intends to do to make the team a success, Gutierrez said it’s up to the team to decide what it wants to focus on.
“Those guys are more in charge of their experience here than I am,” he said.

-Compiled by Matt Sunderland