NEWBERG, Ore. --- The George Fox swim program completed its first dual meet of the season, falling to the Whitworth Pirates on Friday night.

The Bruins competed in 22 events across both the men's and women's programs. The women lost a close meet, 104-94, while the men also fell, 163-41.

Top Performances
Jesse Urback, Britney Muralt, Riley Parker, and Mia Smith began the day with a second-place finish for Fox in the 200-medley relay. The men kicked off their competition with a third-place finish from August Maberry, Levi Gibson, Daren Sehorn, and Strom Nordeng in the men's event.

Sophomore Laurel Knox impressed in the women's 1650 yard freestyle, placing second with her time of 19.29.36.

Freshman Jesse Urback secured the Bruins first win of the meet with her blistering performance in the women's 200 yard freestyle. Her time of 2:04.71 was three seconds better than Mia Smith, who took second place in 2:07.89. Urback had a successful meet, also securing second place for Fox in the 500 yard freestyle with her time of 5:46.96. 

Senior Levi Gibson was the best performer for Fox in the men's 50 yard freestyle, placing third with a time of 22.11. In the women's division Ellie Opdahl led the way for the Bruins, also taking home third place in 26.93.

Standout freshman Riley Parker continued to display some impressive early season form, securing a win for Fox in the women's 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.50. Parker also won the women's 100 yard freestyle, beating out the field in 55.35 seconds.  

Freshman Wyatt Greene secured a podium finish in the men's 400 yard individual medley, taking third place in 4:35.19. Greene was dominant across all the distance events, placing third in the men's 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:15.16. 

Chyanna Blackburn was the best finisher for the women in the 400 yard individual medley, her time of 5:20.86 good enough to take second place.

The women's 100 yard butterfly saw the Bruins pick up another podium finish, as Muralt had another strong swim to secure second place in 1:03.13.

Levi Gibson picked up the next top-three finish for the Bruins with his impressive performance in the 100 yard breaststroke – the senior took second place with a time of 1:00.59. 

The Bruins ended the meet with the 200 yard freestyle relay events. In the men's division, Alexander Cameron, Owen Tonseth, Wyatt Greene and Kaden Oprea took third place with a time of 1:35.96. In the women's event Laurel Knox, Claire Benevides, Ellie Hoover and Ellie Opdahl finished the race in 1:50.27, finishing second place to wrap up the meet.


Coach's Thoughts
"I am really happy with our first duel meet of the season," said Bruin head coach Natalie Turner, "Whitworth is always going to be a tough opponent, so it's a challenging way to start the season but a great experience to learn from. Our women had their best scoring meet against Whitworth ever, and we are really proud of how hard they fought tonight. 
Whitman will be another tough meet tomorrow, but we are excited to get some times in the book and race some more."

Up Next
The Bruins will look to secure their first dual win of the season when they travel to Walla Walla tomorrow to take on the Whitman Blues. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.