The University of Puget Sound’s swimming teams have looked unbeatable in the early stages of the season. Most recently, both men’s and women’s teams took titles at the Northwest Invitational on Nov. 20 and 21 at Parkland.
The women Loggers crushed the competition with a total of 528 points, finishing well ahead of Whitman University, who came in a distant second with 405 points. The men faced a more challenging field; they narrowly held off Whitman 472-463 for the team title.
The men’s team took an early lead thanks in large part to six first-place finishes. Freshman Derek Frenzel (Moscow, Idaho) was able to capture two titles in the 500 meter freestyle and in the 200 meter butterfly. In the 500 meter freestyle, Frenzel barely outreached Whitman’s Kevin Dyer with a winning time of 4:53.47 compared to Dyer’s 4:53.75. In the 200 meter butterfly, Frenzel won by a much larger margin, as he finished a 1:57.75, which was almost seven seconds ahead of the next closest competitor.
In addition to all of this, Frenzel was also on the Loggers’ winning 400-medley relay team along with freshman Teale Kitson (Durango, Colo.), senior Jack Zaharchuk (Portland, Ore.), and junior Adam Ganz (Cleveland, Ohio). The four men recorded a winning time of 4:31.29.
In addition to the men’s early success, four Loggers from the women’s swim team also won their respective events. Sophomore Tracy Wormwood (Elk River, Minn.) recorded a time of 1:10.03 in the 100 meter breast stroke. Freshman Maggie O’Rourke (Los Angeles, Calif.) was responsible for the next Loggers’ individual title in the 100 meter freestyle. O’Rourke improved on her preliminary time by 1.31 seconds to win with a time of 56.44. Sophomore Ava Williams (Eagle River, Ark.) managed to finish right behind O’Rourke in the 100 meter freestyle, with a time of 56.81. Lastly, freshman Caitlin Fuller (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) won the 200 meter butterfly title to conclude the first day.
At the end of the first day, the men’s team held the team lead with 247 points while the women’s team sat atop the standings with 269 points.
The Logger women continued their dominance on day two as Wormwood posted a victory in the 200 meter breast stroke and junior Kenzie Kitson (Durango, Colo.) posted a victory in the 100 meter back stroke.
The men ended up having to fight a little harder to edge out the competition. It came down to the men needing every point out of four event wins to stay in front of Whitman.
The Loggers won all the relay events impressively, and also produced key performances with 1st and 2nd place finishes in the 100 meter butterfly. Sophomore Aleksander Jeremic (Skopje, Macedonia) won the event with a time of 53.44. Kitson posted yet another Logger victory in the 100 meter back stroke with a time of 55.56.
What sealed the deal, however, was the Logger victory in the 400 meter freestyle relay for a sweep of the Northwest Invitational.
Women’s swimmer junior Taylor Sands (Golden, Colo.) explained, “I am really proud of how strong our team has started out this year and how dedicated everyone is to working to our full potential. When you have a team that gets in the pool and works hard every morning at 5:30 a.m. and then gets back in for another two hours at night you know that you can expect great things. I’m excited to see how we do at the Husky Invite this weekend.”
The Husky Invite is an all day event that will be held in Federal Way on Dec. 3. Come out to support your Loggers!