PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's swimming won six of the 10 events they competed in, as part of a successful Senior Day for the River Otters.
THE BASICS
Willamette University 97, Lewis & Clark 89
HOW IT HAPPENED
Seniors
Ezra Billings,
Zach Martin and
Michael Spicer each claimed victories to help lead Lewis & Clark against Willamette. Lewis & Clark swimming honored their three men's seniors and nine total seniors prior to and after the home meet.
Billings (2x), Martin and sophomores
Sam LoCurto and
Isaiah Frei all posted individual event wins for the River Otters in their first home meet since November 1.
Martin notched the first win of the day for Lewis & Clark. The senior defeated three Willamette swimmers in the 200 Free. He touched the wall in 1:48.02 to win by 13.30 seconds.
Billings earned his first of two wins in the 50 Free. Billings beat out seven swimmers with a time of 20.98. He finished 1.78 seconds ahead of the top Willamette swimmer. Junior
Aidan Beatty (25.02) and first years
Kofi Franklin (27.00) and
Max Zuberbuhler (27.88) placed fifth through seventh.
LoCurto and first year
Reid McAllister placed first and second in the 100 Fly. The River Otters duo beat out two Bearcats. LoCurto touched the wall in 54.16 and McAllister finished in 57.64.
Billings recorded his second win of the day in the 100 Free. Billings came across in 48.53 to defeat a field of four swimmers. The senior posted a time of 48.53 to finish 1.96 seconds ahead of the top Willamette swimmer. Junior
Colin Ziegler notched a fourth-place showing with a time of 54.19.
Frei added his second win in as many days in the 100 Backstroke. The junior beat a field of six swimmers to the wall with a time of 59.01. LoCurto came in second overall with a mark of 1:00.06. Beatty (1:09.79) and Zuberbuhler (1:11.08) placed sixth and seventh overall.
Spicer led Lewis & Clark in the 400 IM. He finished second out of four swimmers with a mark of 4:32.09. Frei ended the race in fourth place with a time of 4:46.59.
Lewis & Clark had three swimmers compete in the 100 Breaststroke. Martin paced the trio with a time of 1:03.74 to finish third overall. Ziegler (1:10.77) and Franklin (1:16.06) came across in fourth and fifth place.
The River Otters closed out the day with their sixth and final win. Billings, Spicer, LoCurto and Martin dominated the 200 Free. The quartet combined for a time of 1:30.21 to defeat Willamette's team by 10.91 seconds.
In the first race of the day, Lewis & Clark's relay team finished second in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of Frei, Ziegler, McAllister and Beatty finished in 1:48.32.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The three Lewis & Clark men's seniors all were swimming in their second-to-last home meet at the Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion.
- After not swimming on Friday night due to an illness, Billings won all three of his events on Saturday.
- LoCurto won the 100 Fly for the first time in his collegiate career.
- Martin won the 200 Free on both Friday and Saturday this weekend. This season he has four event victories with wins in the 200 Free (2x), 100 Free and 500 Free.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will close out the regular season on Saturday when they host a quad meet at 1 p.m. The River Otters will take on Northwest Conference schools Pacific University and George Fox University and perennial junior college power Southwestern Oregon Community College.
