Picking up their first wins of the season, the Wildcat men crushed the College of Idaho while the women significantly outscored both Mills College and the College of Idaho.

The men defeated the Coyotes in a final count of 143-49. The women, meanwhile, pulled out a decisive victory against Mills College (83-11) and more than doubled the score of their opponents from the College of Idaho (64-31).

Wildcat ladies Kelcie Kimura (Soph., Honolulu, Hawaii), Megan Sandall (Sr., Bellevue, Wash.), Catherine Nakamura (Sr., Mililani, Hawaii) and Tori Nickerson (Soph., Oak Harbor, Wash.) achieved victory in the 200-yard medley relay by more than a minute with a time of 1:57.14, while their Coyote counterparts finished in 1:58.17.

Individually, the Linfield swimmers also pulled out some very definitive wins.

The women’s 1000-yard freestyle was one such example. Nikki Overton (Fr., Gresham, Ore.) won the race in 11:25.53. Just behind in second place was Katie Main (Sr., Mill Creek, Wash.) (11:32.32) and third was Caitlin Duffner (Fr., Issaquah, Wash.) (12:07.88).

Immediately following the women’s event, the men’s 1000-yard freestyle was a bit closer. Ian Coker (Soph., Colorado Springs, Colo.) pulled ahead with a time of 10:48.83, while Brennen Baker from the College of Idaho followed in 10:49.04.

Lee Rivers (Jr., Renton, Wash.) swam his way to victory in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.58). Lucas Hill was his runner-up (1:52.81). Wildcat Sean Iwamasa (Sr., Mililani, Hawaii) topped the field in the 100-yard butterfly in 56.13 and was followed by Tyler Maryon (56.37). AJ Wagoner (59.34) also beat Maryon (59.66) in the 100-yard backstroke.

On the women’s side, Kimura beat Chrissie Younggren from the College of Idaho by only 82-hundredths of a second (2:20.11 to 2:20.93) in the 200 individual medley. In the 100 butterfly, Nakamura (1:03.44) pulled ahead of Emily Gott (1:03.69) from Mills College.

The College of Idaho had their victories as well.

On the women’s side, Logan Gomez beat out Nakamura in the 100-yard backstroke with times of 1:06.42-1:06.78. Selena Warburton and Kaylee Farrell took the top two places in the 100-yard breaststroke with times of 1:10.42 and 1:21.94, respectively. Wildcat Nicole Paulachuck rounded out the top three (1:25.02).

The College of Idaho men took the top spots in two races. Andrew Hasbrook won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.16. Second place went to Linfield’s Iwamasa (23.52). In the 100-yard freestyle, Nolan Hill finished in 50.24 and Daniel Palacios (Soph., McMinnville, Ore) was the runner up in 52.59.

COMING UP: Linfield’s next competition is more than a month away. The Wildcats resume Northwest Conference action with back-to-back meets at Lewis & Clark and at home against Pacific Jan. 18-19.