TACOMA, Wash. - - Just days after the Northwest Conference released its 2026-27 preseason coaches' poll, ranking Puget Sound second on both sides with first place votes behind Whitworth, the Loggers welcomed the conference favorites to Tacoma for an exciting home dual meet on Friday night.

How it Happened

Opening up the evening in the pool, the squads wasted no time setting the tone. The women's 400 Medley Relay saw the Logger's 'A' Team combine for a time of 4:18.35 to place second. On the men's side, Puget Sound's A team followed suit, racing to a second place finish in 3:28.37.

From the short relay sprints, the meet turned to some grueling endurance events. Merin Schmidt settled into her rhythm in the 1000 freestyle to secure a third place finish with a time of 11:28.58, while Ayla Rowan touched right behind in 12:07.92. For the men, Sam Lyon delivered a great swim, touching the wall in 9:51.05 for second place, backed by Caleb O'Donnell with a time of 10:46.06 and Nicolas Larson with 11:02.94.

The swimmers shifted their focus to shorter distance with the 200 yard races. In the 200 yard freestyle, Bryce Kirk placed fourth in 1:47.82.

The energy amped up for the shortest sprint of the day. In the women's 50 yard freestyle, Lelia Ollenburg captured first place in 24.38, alongside Adi Cosbey-Lewis (24.92). Following for the men, Emory Burden raced to second place in 21.39, Joel Liu also had a strong swim taking third in 21.72.

Next up was the individual medleys. In the women's 200 yard IM, Hazel Knight finished third in 2:20.96, Daphne Khong took fourth. Closing out the rotation, Devin Goetsch raced to third place in 1:59.79, Camden Parsons took fifth with a time of 2:03.61.

The butterfly leg brought power to the pool. In the men's 200 yard butterfly, Bryce Kirk took fourth in 2:03.65, Goetsch finished fifth and Anthony Sampson took sixth.

Sprinting back into the individual freestyle events, the swimmers tackled the 100 yards. For Puget Sound in the 100 yard freestyle, Ollenburg secured second place touching the wall in 54.69 and Cosbey-Lewis took fourth in 57.27. On the men's side, Liam Tudor took second place in 47.71, Joel Liu finished third in 47.77 and Emory Burden placed fourth.

In the backstrokes, Sophie Buchan claimed a victory in the 200 Backstroke, touching first in 2:14.52, Sophia Lihou placed third and Harper McGuire took fourth. Following for the men, Eli Stevens finished fifth in 2:04.49, Gus Rudenick took sixth in 2:04.86.

As the meet entered the later stages, endurance was tested yet again. In the 500 yard freestyle, Laleeta Pal placed second in 5:29.42. Keeping the pace strong, Sam Lyon raced to second place with a time of 4:43.81.

In the women's 200 breaststroke, Hazel Knight took third place in 2:39.13 and Amelia Mercado finished fifth. On the men's side, Anderson Bennett captured second in 2:11.44, while Goetsch placed fifth.

With the meet on the line, the teams grouped up for the final relay of the night. The women's side finished second in 3:53.42, the men also took second in 3:17.51.

What Happens Next

The Loggers will stay at Wallace Pool to host Whitman on October 31, starting at 11 a.m.