Logger men and women each finish in second place at 2011 NWC swimming championships

The Logger men and women took home second place in NWC Swimming Championships.

Both Logger swim teams concluded their regular season last weekend in Gresham, Ore. at the Northwest Conference Swimming Championship.

At the end of the weekend, both the men and the women found themselves sitting comfortably in second place with 586.5 points and 679 points, respectively.

On day one the Lady Loggers’ 400 meter medley relay team, comprised of Mackenzie Kitson (Durango, Colo.), Tracy Wormwood (Elk River, Minn.), Caitlin Fuller (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Maggie O’Rourke (Los Angeles, Calif.), took second place with a time of 3:56.55, a bit more than a second shy of first place Whitworth.

Wormwood also notched a third place time in the 200 meter Individual Medley at 2:12.28, followed directly by fourth and fifth place finishers Cait Farry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Maggie Smith (St. Paul, Minn.). Maggie O’Rourke also landed a fifth place individual performance in the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 24.70.

Other top Logger performers from day one included Hannah Vernon (Morgantown, W.Va.) and Fuller, pulling in seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 500 meter free.

On day two the Lady Loggers’ 200 meter medley relay squad, consisting of Kitson, Wormwood, O’Rourke, and Rachel Mendelsohn (Sedona, Ariz.), took first place with a time of 1:48.12, a bit more than a second off the all time record set by the Loggers in 2009.

Individually, the 100 fly podium was full of Loggers with Kelsey Elizondo (Salt Lake City, Utah), Fuller and Mendelsohn placing third, fourth, and fifth.

The highest individual Logger finishers of the day, however, went to Wormwood and Kitson. Wormwood took first place in the 100 meter breast stroke, finishing in 1:05.25, only a hair over two tenths of a second away from the all time record set by the Loggers in 2004.

After Wormwood’s impressive time, Kitson took the title in the 100 meter back stroke with a final time of 58.21. By the end of day two, the women were 97 points behind the leading Whitworth Pirates.

The conclusion of the meet was a strong day for the Loggers as a team, and a powerful finish by Wormwood. The 200 meter fly gave four Loggers spots in the top eight. Elizondo finished in second place with a 2:09.25, followed by Fuller in fourth, Mariah Snowden (Altadena, Calif.) in sixth and Mendelsohn finishing in eighth.

Wormwood highlighted the Loggers’ day with a first place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:22.82, over two seconds faster than the second place finisher. Sophomore Jessica Jaynes (Denver, Colo.) took a third place finish in that race.

At the end of the day, the Lady Loggers finished in second place, trailing the Whitworth Pirates by 138 points.

The men’s 400 meter medley relay team, made up of Derek Frenzel (Moscow, Idaho), Teale Kitson (Durango, Colo.), Jack Zaharchuk (Portland, Ore.) and Aleksander Jeremikj (Skopje, Macedonia) took second place.

The 200 meter free style relay team, with Jeremikj, Adam Ganz (Cleveland, Ohio), Nick Burns (University Place, Wash.), and Cooper Langdahl (Portland, Ore.), grabbed a third place finish. Frenzel and Kitson also took second and third in the 500 meter free style with finishing times of 4:40.30 and 4:41.05, respectively.

Day two also began with the Logger men in second place, and the similarities didn’t end there. Teale Kitson, Mackenzie Kitson’s younger brother, took the title in the same race as his sister. He finished with a time of 52.44.

The 100 meter butterfly was also a great race for the Logger men, with Loggers placing in second, third, fourth and fifth place. Jeremikj led the Logger charge with a 51.19, followed by Frenzel, Max Cohen (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Zach Waker (Portland, Ore.).

Day two ended  as it began, with the Loggers sitting in second place, just behind Whitworth and ahead of Whitman.

The final day proved to be a successful one for the men as well, with Frenzel taking his first ever NWC swimming title in the 200 meter fly, posting a time of 1:51.80.

Jeremikj followed Frenzel with a second place finish, while Walker pulled in at fourth. Kitson finished second in the 200 meter back with a time of 1:54.74, followed senior Jake Rifkin (Edina, Minn.) who took seventh place in the race.

Much like the women’s team, the Logger men found themselves with a second place victory, trailing only the repeat NWC winning squad, the Whitworth Pirates.

Two Loggers, Derek Frenzel and Tracy Wormwood, have qualified for nationals and will continue their seasons, encouraged by their hard-working teammates, until the Division III national championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 23.