NEWBERG, Ore. – In their final meet before the NWC Conference Championship Tournament, the George Fox men's swim beat the Pacific Boxers, 153-18, and the women's team won 151-53. The Bruins also honored seniors Cassidy Hendren, Britney Muralt, Ellie Opdahl, and Kobe Lilio and fifth-year Levi Gibson. The Bruins would celebrate senior day by winning every event but one.

How It Happened
George Fox had two teams finish within a second of each other in the 200 medley relay, with the top team (Owen Tonseth, Levi Gibson, Cody Moreland, and Cameron Alexander) swimming a time of 1:43.27. The women's team also won the event, as Riley Parker, Ellie Opdahl, Britney Muralt, and Mia Smith swam a 1:56.58. 

Laurel Knox dominated the women's 1650-yard freestyle, with a time of 18:15, a full minute ahead of the rest of the pack. 

Levi Gibson took first place in the men's 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.68, and Britney Muralt snagged first for women's with a 2:02.85. 

Aries Venezuela and Riley Parker dominated the men's and women's 50-yard freestyle, with times of 22.44 seconds and 25.27 seconds respectively. 

Cameron Alexander won the men's 400-yard IM with a time of 4:35.36, and Ellie Hoover won the women's 400 IM with a swim time of 5:09.57. 

In the men's 100-yard butterfly, Kaden Oprea finished with a time of 54.62 to take first place and in the women's 100-yard butterfly Riley Parker picked up another first-place finish with a 1:00.85. 

The men's 100-yard freestyle was also won by the Bruins, with Cameron Alexander adding to his impressive day with a 50.16 second time and first place. Laurel Knox won the race on the women's side, swimming a 57.22.

Aries Valenzuela took first place in the men's 100-yard backstroke, taking the race with a time of 54.92 seconds. 

Wyatt Greene and Kobe Lilio took first and second place in the men's 500-yard freestyle, and Chyanna Blackburn won the women's 500-free. 

In the men's 100-yard breaststroke, Levi Gibson finished first for his third first-place finish on the day, and Britney Muralt also grabbed another first-place finish on the women's side. 

In the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Bruins dominated once again, as Owen Tonseth, Wyatt Greene, Austin Rohrbach, and Mason Luna won the men's race with a time of 1:37.33, and the women's team of Cassidy Hendren, Ellie Hoover, Jesse Urback, and Laurel Knox won with a time of 1:47.31. 

Coach's Thoughts
"What an awesome way to end a season and celebrate our seniors!" said head coach Natalie Turner, "We have continued to improve throughout the season, so it's fun to swim so well in January and still have our Conference Championship meet to look forward to in two weeks. Honoring our six graduating seniors today was really special. I am so grateful for all the families and spectators that came out to cheer them and the rest of the team on."

Up Next
On February 8th, the Bruins will travel to Federal Way, Washington to begin the NWC Conference Finals, which go through February 11th.