Whit swimmers win NWC

Whitworth claimed its fourth consecutive Northwest Conference men’s swimming title Sunday night in Federal Way, Wash., winning three more events to defeat Puget Sound by 1091/2 points.

David Dolphay led off the night for the Pirates by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 16 minutes, 4.84 seconds, defeating his nearest competitor by over 35 seconds. Loren Kilgore followed with a win in the 200 backstroke in 1:55.08, while teammate Luke Stocker finished second in 1:58.58.

In the final event of the night, the team of Nathan Newberg, Dolphay, Kilgore and David Lillard won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:10.50, beating second-place Linfield by nearly 4 seconds.

Dolphay and Kilgore shared NWC Outstanding Swimmer honors, while coach Steve Schadt was named NWC Coach of the Year after his third title in as many years with the program.

On the women’s side, Samantha Kephart’s three wins led Whitworth to a third-place finish behind UPS and Lewis & Clark. Kephart won the 200 butterfly in 2:01.45, shattering the meet and conference records in the process. She was also named Outstanding Swimmer.