Six Seniors Swim Last Home Meet Friday

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Six Whitman seniors swim the final dual meets of their collegiate careers when the Missionaries host Puget Sound on Friday.

The dual meet, which concludes the regular season for Whitman, starts at 5 p.m. in the Louse and Paul Harvey Pool at Baker Ferguson Fitness Center. The meet is free and open to the public.

Eric Molnar

Chelsea Klinger

The Missionary seniors are Sidney Kohls, Chelsea Klinger and Jessie Neill for the women and Eric Molnar, Nick Hurlburt and Kevin McCoy for the men. 

Both Whitman teams, after suffering their first dual meet losses of the season last Saturday, are 5-1 in the NWC and 6-1 overall.

Both Puget Sound squads are 5-0 in the NWC and 5-1 on the season. The Loggers head to Spokane on Saturday to finish their regular season against Whitworth.

The NWC Championships are set for Feb. 12-14 at the King Co. Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash.

Molnar, who missed most of last Saturday's meet because of an academic conflict, has been one off Whitman's most accomplished swimmers for the past four years. He won an NWC title in the 400-yard individual medley as a sophomore and placed second in the 200-yard IM as a junior, even though he missed the first half of the season while on foreign study.

Molnar also placed third and fourth in races at the conference championships last February. He posted three third-place efforts in his first two trips to the NWC meet.

Nick Hurlburt

Sidney Kohls

Molnar shares Whitman school records in three of the five relay events. While he has yet to claim an individual school record, he ranks second all-time at Whitman in the two IM events as well as the 200-yard butterfly. He ranks fourth and eighth at Whitman in the two backstroke events.

On the women's side, Klinger also enjoyed much success in her first three trips to the NWC championships, placing no lower than 14th in the nine races in which she competed.

Klinger finished as high as fifth in the 400-yard IM, eighth in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 10th in the 200-yard IM and 13th in both the 200-yard and 500-yard freesteyles.

Klinger, who won the 1,000-yard freestyle race in Whitman's first dual meet last October, has missed much of this season while recuperating from an injury.

Klinger has her name etched in Whitman's all-time Top 10 list for both IM events. She ranks eighth at the longer distance and ninth at 200 yards.

Kevin McCoy

Jessie Neill

Hurlburt, one of the team captains for the men's squad, has also made three trips to the NWC championships, placing as high as 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke, 12th in 50-yard freestyle, 13th in the 200-yard breaststroke and 18th in the 100-yard freestyle.

Kohls, in her second year as a women's team captain, made her best showing at the NWC meet last February, finishing 16th in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Kohls placed 18th in the 100-yard breaststroke to cap her first season at Whitman. She has also competed at the championships in freestyle races ranging from 100 to 500 yards.

Neill made solid contributions at the championships a year ago, placing 14th in both butterfly events. She has also competed at the shorter freestyle distances, placing as high as 17th in the 100-yard race and 21st at 50 yards.

McCoy, who also missed last Saturday's meet because of academic testing, has made his mark at past championship meets in both the backstroke and freestyle events. His best finishes were 18th in the 100-yard backstroke and 19th in the 100-yard freestyle. 

Both Whitman teams will have their hands full with Puget Sound on Saturday. The Logger women won the NWC team title last year while the men were placing second.

The Whitman men finished third at the conference championships last year. The Missionary women were fourth.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu