FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Another day, another Northwest Conference relay championship for the Linfield University men's squad.
 
During the second day of action Friday at the Northwest Conference Swimming Championships, the Linfield foursome of Daisuke Fitial, Jake Maher, Ben Simpson and Edan Donaldson held off a strong final push by Whitworth to capture the gold medal in the 400 medley relay in 3 minutes, 23.19 seconds. The victory followed a similar championship result in the 200 medley relay by the Wildcats in Friday's opening session.
 
The nine-team, four-day event, hosted by Willamette University and staged at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, saw the Wildcat men slip from second place to third in the point standings on Friday. The Linfield women rose from fourth to third place.
 
MEN
Linfield's men earned two runner-up finishes, dueling Whitworth swimmers to the wall each time. In the 200-yard individual medley, Fitial placed second with a time of 1:53.08. And in the 50 freestyle, senior Garrett Sutton built an early lead but couldn't hold on, ending the race in second place behind champion Zachary Washburn of Whitworth, who clocked 20.29. Sutton's time of 20.38 broke the senior's own school record of 20.47 and met the NCAA 'B' provisional qualifying standard. 
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Cameron Wheeler trimmed nearly three seconds off his season-best time in the 500 freestyle, capturing ninth place in 4:49.69. Jack Gallo was 11^th (4:50.35), Colby Evenson was 15^th (4:52.99) and Levi Buker was 16^th (4:53.48).
 
WOMEN
Linfield's 400 medley relay carved out a third-place result with strong swims recorded by Avery Campbell, Whitney Averill, Kate Walkup and Maggie Kelley. The four Wildcats clocked 3:58.05, a whopping 16-second improvement from their seeded time.
 
In the 200 individual medley, Claudia Velie secured fourth place in 2:13.31 and teammate Molly Shields was eighth in 2:15.62. Kalea Mullins placed ninth in the consolation final, timing 2:15.62.
 
Abbi Karsseboom claimed 10^th place in the 500 freestyle. Her time of 5:23.63 eclipsed her previous best effort of 5:24.83.
 
In the 50 freestyle, Kelley and Lauren Bobo-Shisler shared seventh place, both finishing in 24.73. Shields was 10^th (24.85) and Campbell took 13^th (24.91).
 
NEXT
Competition continues on Saturday with preliminary races beginning at 9:30 a.m. followed by championship finals starting at 6 p.m.