NEWBERG, Ore. — The George Fox men's and women's teams competed in their home waters for the highly-competitive Bruin Invite. The men finished in third place (269) and the women ended in first (512) after a successful first day. 

Top Performers
In just the first day alone, there were many great performances from GFU's swimmers, but one in particular turned a great day into an incredible one. Freshman Gabbie Patti was a threat in the water, especially in the women's 200 Back; not only did she finish first place in the final heat, not only did she set a GFU program record, but the freshman broke the Northwest Conference record in the process with a flying time of 2:01.93. Patti's mark downed the previous record set by Whitman's Mara Selznick in 2017.

Along with her record-breaking event, she also competed in the women's 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Medley Relay, and the 200 IM. Patti was assisted by Donna Talmadge, Addie Gustin, and Riley Parker to get another first place for GFU in the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:40.27); for the 400 Medley Relay, the Lady Bruins achieved a time of 4:06.38 and second place with Patti, Parker, Ellie Hoover, and Laurel Knox. Last but certainly not least, Patti added another first place to her record with a first place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.07 — another program record.

Parker was another swimmer who thrived on the first day of the invite; along with assisting the Bruins in their successful women's relays, she also got third place (2:35.66) in the women's 200 Breaststroke and achieved first place in the women's 50 Butterfly with a time of 27.22. 

In addition to Patti, the Lady Bruins had another top finisher in the 200 Yard IM; with a time of 2:15.94, Jesse Urback concluded the event in third place. Urback also added a first place finish to her record in the women's 500 Freestyle (5:13.48). 

Rounding out the first place finish for the George Fox women's swim team was Leah Meeuswen. With a speedy time of 29.71, Meeuswen added yet another first place to the Lady Bruins' record. 

The men also had solid marks for the Bruins, with Christopher McLennan finishing fifth in both the 200 back (2:04.23) and 50 back (26.11). A host of other Bruins including Micah Hugo, Strom Nordeng, Tobin Janson, and Wyatt Greene, also finished sixth.

Coach's Thoughts
"We had a very strong opening day and I'm really proud of how our swimmers are doing," said Bruin head coach Natalie Turner. "Our prelims positions gave us great opportunities, and the team capitalized on them tonight with multiple best times and national qualifying performances. We are fighting to races and getting great touch outs at the end. It makes for fun competition. We're looking forward to carrying that progress into tomorrow."

What Happens Next
GFU will stay in Newberg, Ore. for the continuation of the Bruin Invite at the Chehalem Aquatic and Fitness Center. Preliminaries will begin at 10:00 am while finals start at 4:00 pm.