The Thrill Of The Dual Meet

When I competed in track and field in high school, the bread and butter of the season were dual meets and tri-meets. The dual meet went a long ways to building not only a healthy rivalry with other schools in your conference, but also created a true team cammaderie in a sport that is decidedly individual.

The dual meet is a lost art in collegiate track, but it is alive and well in swimming. And the true thrill and excitement of a dual meet came through on Saturday when Pacific competed against Lewis & Clark.

The excitement was on the men's side. In terms of succeeding as a team in wins & losses, the odds have been stacked against the Boxers since the team was reinstated in 2004. Pacific has only seven swimmers on the roster, and winning a dual meet is near impossible when you don't have the numbers to compete. In their four years, the Boxers had won just one dual meet, last January against Willamette.

Lewis & Clark, however, is a small squad themselves. With only 11 swimmers on their roster, the Boxers felt a chance to pull out another long-awaited win.

True to predictions, the meet was close much of the way. By the meet's second intermission, following the 500-yard freestyle, the Boxers led by just five points. It was at that point where the true excitement of the dual meet began.

The Pioneers took the lead in the 100-yard breaststroke, thanks to a strong swim by Pat Murray in the 100-yard breaststroke here he just edged Brandan Mantei for first. Lewis & Clark went 1,4 and 5 in the race, earning 12 points in the race compared to the Boxers' seven. Just like that, the Boxers were down by a score of 86-82 with the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to go.

Thankfully, the Boxers are blessed with a number of strong freestyle swimmers, but nothing is a given when things are this close. The Lewis & Clark team grouped themselves at the south corner of the pool, ready to cheer their team on as they made the turn. Pacific lined up along the side of the pool in the center, near the one bleacher section where they sit for home meets.

On the first leg, the relay had all of the makings of a close contest. L&C's Shane Harris-Capuano swam a solid leadoff leg, pulling into the wall in 26.37 seconds, just ahead of the 25.66 seconds of Ben Griffin.

It wasd the second leg, however, that made all of the difference. Wyeth Yogi swma that leg for the Boxers. Yogi is not known as a sprint swimmer. He placed second earlier in the meet in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming 5:50.91. You usually don't put your distance people in sprint relay events, but with the numbers, Pacific had no choice.

And did Wyeth come through! "The Yogi" swam an incredible second leg, swimming a 26-second lap to pull in a full seven seconds ahead of the Pioneers' Erik Khazoyan. That swim was all that the Boxers needed as they turned things over to a pair of solid sprint performers, Luke Fuller and Scott Kimura, to seal the win. Thanks to Yogi's leg, the Boxers won the one-on-one race by 15 seconds and took the meet by a 93-90 score.

Pacific is not likely to win many more, if any dual meets, this season. That is purely because of the numbers and not because of the team's heart. Granted, the Boxers ony have seven swimmers on the men's roster, but they have the heart, work ethic and desire of 70 men. That will take them far, especially when it comes time for the conference meet.