PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's swimming won five events in their 2025-26 season opener against Whitman College, on Friday night at Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion.
THE BASICS
Whitman 123, Lewis & Clark 76
HOW IT HAPPENED
Seniors
Ezra Billings (2x),
Zach Martin and
Michael Spicer all won individual events to lead the River Otters. The trio teamed up with sophomore
Sam LoCurto to win the 400 Free Relay to cap off the night.
Billings, the reigning Northwest Conference Men's Swimmer of the Year, won both of his individual events. He opened the night by finishing first out of eight swimmers in the 50 Free. The senior touched the wall in 21.62 to defeat Whitman's Elliot Yung by 0.74 seconds. Junior
Colin Ziegler finished fifth overall with a time of 24.87. Fellow junior
Aidan Beatty took sixth in 26.26. First year
Max Zuberbuhler made his collegiate debut in the event and finished in 27.45.
Billings also took first in the 100 Free. He came across in 47.61 to defeat Whitman's Brodie Salzbrener by 0.76 seconds. LoCurto placed fourth overall in 50.53. First year
Kofi Franklin made his collegiate-debut in the event and placed sixth overall (1:02.25).
Spicer claimed first place in the 200 Butterfly. He placed first out of four swimmers in the event with a winning time of 1:59.52. Spicer finished 3.83 seconds ahead of the top Whitman finisher. First year
Reid McAllister took third overall with a mark of 2:14.50.
Martin earned the team's final individual victory of the day. He defeated three Whitman swimmers with a time of 5:16.21 in the 500 Free. He came from behind to pass Whitman's Adrian Dulong by 0.32 seconds.
Lewis & Clark earned their final win of the night in the 400 Free Relay. The defending conference champions finished first out of three teams in the event. Billings, Spicer, LoCurto and Martin combined for a time of 3:16.30, to finish 5.99 seconds ahead of the top Whitman relay team.
LoCurto posted Lewis & Clark's lone second-place finish of the night. He finished second out of seven swimmers in the 200 Free. LoCurto notched a time of 1:50.66. Martin (1:51.79) took third overall and McAllister finished in 1:57.53 to place fifth.
Sophomore
Isaiah Frei led Lewis & Clark in a pair of events. He raced against four Whitman swimmers in the 200 IM. Frei finished third overall with a time of 2:13.75.
Frei also took third in the 200 Backstroke. He touched the wall in the 2:05.82. Beatty placed sixth in the event with a time of 2:31.40. Zuberbuhler came in seventh overall with a mark of 2:33.76.
Spicer took third place in the 1,000 Free. He led for the first half of the race but ultimately finished third with a time of 10:51.23.
Ziegler and Franklin represented Lewis & Clark in the 200 Breaststroke. Ziegler took fifth in the event (2:40.98) and Franklin placed sixth overall (2:45.06).
In the first event of the night, Lewis & Clark placed third overall in the 400 Medley Relay. Frei, Ziegler, McAllister and Beatty combined for a time of 4:02.02. McAllister made his collegiate debut in the race.
BY THE NUMBERS
- First years Franklin, McAllister and Zuberbuhler all made their collegiate debuts on Friday.
- Billings and Spicer both posted times in their events that would rank top-10 in program history – if not for already owning better career times. Billings' times in the 50 Free (21.62) and 100 Free (47.61) would rank seventh and 10th all-time. Spicer's mark of 1:59.52 in the 200 Fly would put him 10th all-time. Heading into the season, Billings owned the program record in the 50 and 100 Free and Spicer sat third all-time in the 200 Fly.
- Beatty's time in the 200 Backstroke (2:31.40) was a collegiate-best time. He swam a season-best mark of 2:40.93 last year in the event.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will host defending Northwest Conference Champions Whitworth University on Saturday at 11 a.m.
