The Trail

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: Sports

Any Polansky will represent the Loggers at nationals

At the end of the three day NWC Conference Championships, the UPS women claimed their 11th consecutive title, while the men placed third. The Championship was held at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash.

This year was a close call for the Logger women, as they were closely dogged by Whitworth. At the end of the first day, the Whitman women were in the lead with 212 points to the Loggers' 199.

However, the men started out strong in second place with 158 points, just 27 points behind Linfield.

It wasn't until junior Amy Polansky won the 100 yard breaststroke on the second day that the Loggers pulled into first. Polansky met the NCAA B cut with her time of 1:06.83. This breaststoke win was a calculated tactic by the Logger women.

"Chris Myhre had calculated it out so that if we won certain events, namely the breastroke events and one relay, getting second or swooping in and getting 12, 14 and so on would have secured our win," Polansky said.

Leesa Cotton believes the reason the Loggers were victorious is their depth.

"We don't win very many races but when you pack in three or four girls in the top eight and even more in top 16, its worth more than a first place," Cotton said. "Conference can never be about one or two people, it takes an entire team to win championships."

Loggers who demonstrated depth were sophomore Kelly O'Dell, also in the 100 yard breaststroke, who placed third with a time of 1:09.59, three seconds behind Polansky, and sophomore Cymon Kersch, who won second in the 400 yard IM with a time of 4:44.88.

The men also placed well in 100 yard breast, with sophomore Paul Hughes taking first at 58.19. In the 100 yard butterfly frehsman Garrett Shields placed second and in the 100 yard backstroke Jackson Kowalski took first.

Both men and women took 1st with their 200 yard medley relay teams. The women's team had a time of 1:51.05. The men's team had a time of 1:35.83.

On the third day, the women continued strong. Polansky continued her breaststroke domination, winning the 200 yard with a time of 2:25.52. O'Dell placed third in this event, five seconds behind Polansky. Cotton placed fifth in 200 yard backstroke and Kersch came in second at the 1650 yard freestyle with a time of 18:11.54.

The men placed nine swimmers on the third day. Kowalski came in second at the 200 yard backstroke and sophomore Schleuderberg placed second in 100 yard Freestyle. Kowalski stated that he felt the teams strengths lay in sprints.

Both 400 yard freestyle relay teams took second place.

Both the men's team and the women's team were happy with their performances.

"It's a bit nerve racking because so many other teams want to take the title away from us, and the fact that the girls defended our title is fantastic," said Polansky.

Both Polansky and Cotton were impressed with the support the team had for each other. Several girls even lost their voices from cheering so much.

As for the men's team, they are hopeful about next year.
"While we thought we would finish better in the overall team standings, we had some great performances. The guys team is still relatively young so we expect to do better next year," said Hughes.

• Nadine Leonard is a dolphin.

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