WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Freshman Jamie Nusse in particular and the Whitman College swim teams in general had quite the opening night as the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships kicked off a three-day run Friday at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Nusse led charge for Whitman, setting a new school record while placing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle. He also was part of two relay teams that set new Whitman marks.
Sophomore David Lee, who joined Nusse on both record-setting relay squads, nearly broke another school record while finishing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle.
Not to be outdone, seniors Erin Pettersen and Courtney Fitzpatrick teamed with first-year swimmers Kate Pringle and Lauren Flynn to set a new Whitman standard in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay. And Pettersen came within three-tenths of a second of breaking the school record in the 50-yard freestyle.
"All in all, it was a great night for Whitman," assistant swim coach Katharine Curles said. "In past championship meets, Friday wasn't the best of days for our teams, but that wasn't the case today. We're excited about the next two days and what we can do."
In the team scoring, both Whitman squads finished the day in fourth place, just two points out of third in each case.
In the women's standings, Whitworth and Puget Sound are first and second, respectively, with 226 and 208 points. Lewis & Clark is in third with 119 points, just two points in front of Whitman. Other team scores are Linfield 88, Willamette 77, Pacific 46, and Pacific Lutheran 34.
On the men's side, Whitworth is on top with 206 points. Puget Sound is second with 183 points, followed by Linfield with 132 and Whitman with 130. Next in line are Pacific Lutheran 113, Lewis & Clark 69, Willamette 57, and Pacific 47.
In the men's 500-yard freestyle, Nusse claimed his school record by swimming 4:47.30 in the evening finals, slicing more than eight seconds off his time in the morning preliminaries. The previous Whitman record, set in 1999 by Garrett Hageman, was 4:49.06.
In the evening's first relay event, the 200-yard freestyle, Nusse and Lee teamed with senior Clint Collier and junior Ysbrand Nusse (Jamie's older brother) to place fourth in 1:26.48. That time trimmed 1.5 seconds off the previous Whitman record, set in 1996 by Hageman and three others.
The evening session ended with the sophomore Eric Molnar joining Jamie Nusse, Lee and Collier to place fourth in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:35.27. That time shaved more than 1.6 seconds off the school record set in 1992.
With Pettersen swimming the opening leg, the Whitman women placed third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:42.75. That erased the previous school record, 1:43.47, which Pettersen and Fitzpatrick helped set in 2006.
Pettersen, who holds school records in both butterfly events, came close to a third record while placing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in 25:04. Michelle Zinanti has set the Whitman standard at 24.75 since 1991.
Pettersen's Friday night finish in the 50-yard freestyle was her best in that event in four years at the championship meet. She placed 15th in her first year, ninth as a sophomore and seventh a year ago as a junior.
Lee, who was eighth in the 50-yard freestyle at last year's championship meet, was clocked in 21.84 in posting his fourth-place finish in the Friday finals. His time in the morning preliminaries was slightly faster, 21.80, and leaves him second all-time at Whitman. Tucker Jackson set the school record in 1999 at 21.40.
Senior Nancy Alexander and first-year teammate Claire Noone, along with Pettersen and Flynn, just missed a school record in placing third in the 400-yard medley relay. Their time was 4:06.94, almost one second off the mark set in 2006 and tied in 2007. Alexander and Pettersen were contributors to both of the earlier times.
Other Friday night highlights for Whitman included the men's 200-yard individual medley, where Molnar and Collier placed seventh and eighth, respectively, with times of 2:00.12 and 2:02.08. Molnar's time moves him into third place all-time at Whitman. Collier's time in the morning preliminaries was 2:00.59, which puts him into the fourth spot.
Other Whitman swimmers making Friday's championship finals were Ysbrand Nusse, who placed eighth in the men's 500-yard freestyle in 5:02.13 (4:56.35 in the morning preliminaries), and Flynn, who was eighth in the women's 50-yard freestyle in 25.97. Flynn's 25.72 time in the preliminaries moves her into sixth place all-time at Whitman for that event.
Several Missionary swimmers scored team points by advancing from the morning preliminaries into the evening's consolation finals (places nine through 16). Sophomore Kendi Thomas and Chelsea Klinger had career-best times in placing ninth and 10th in 200-yard individual medley. With a time of 2:18.31, Thomas moved into sixth place all-time at Whitman for that event. Klinger's 2:19.35 was good enough for the ninth spot on Whitman's all-time list.
In the women's 500-yard freestyle, senior Elizabeth Roberson battled the flu bug and placed 12th in 5:27.87. In the women's 50-yard freestyle, Pringle was 13th in 26.38 while Fitzpatrick was 15th in 26.50. In all three cases, the times were season-best efforts.
In the men's 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Nick Hurlburt was 12th in 23.07 and freshman Matt Bangcaya was 16th in 23.39, his best time of the season. Hurlburt posted his season-best, a 23.02, in the morning preliminaries
Two Missionaries just missed the consolation finals in their events. Freshman Eliot Stone was 17th in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:16.31, his season-best time by about 16 seconds. Alexander just missed her season-best time in the women's 500-yard freestyle, where she was 18th in the preliminaries in 5:38.62.