BOISE, Idaho—Senior Ezra Billings won the 100 Free and fellow seniors Elise Barton and Michael Spicer each earned their first career top-3 finish at a Northwest Conference Championship Meet, to lead swimming on the third and final day of the 2026 NWC Championship Meet. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Men's Swimming – 6^th out of 9 Teams – 282 Points 
Women's Swimming – 8^th out of 9 Teams – 217 Points 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
 
Twelve swimmers scored points in individual events. as Lewis & Clark used an all-around performance to close out the NWC Championship Meet on a high. 
 
Billings defended his title in the 100 Free to win his fourth career NWC Championship and the first-ever individual title for a Lewis & Clark River Otter. The men's 400 Free Relay Team added a second-place finish and the second-fastest time in school history. 
 
Barton earned the first First Team All-Conference honors of her career after placing third overall in the 100 Free. Junior Angie Cummings made the A Finals in the 200 Backstroke and placed sixth overall. 
 
MEN'S RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark posted three top-three finishes and won their first title of the weekend on Sunday night. 
 
Billings took first place in the 100 Free. The senior finished third in qualifying on Sunday morning with a time of 45.45. Senior Zach Martin joined him in the A Final after placing seventh in the morning session with a season-best time of 46.90. Sophomore Sam LoCurto claimed the final spot in the B Final when he touched the wall in 48.26 to finish 16^th. Junior Colin Ziegler finished 28^th in the prelims with a career-best time of 51.74. 
 
In the night session, Billings put together his most complete race of the weekend to earn the title. He sat in fourth place through the first 50 yards but posted a second lap of 23.21 to edge Whitworth's Parker Dangleis by 0.12 seconds. Billings' time of 44.89 was a season-best and good enough for an NCAA "B" Cut. Martin improved his season-best time in the morning with a mark of 46.87 to finish seventh overall. LoCurto moved up to 12^th overall, when he notched a career-best time of 47.71 in the B Final. 
 
Spicer led a trio of Lewis & Clark swimmers who qualified for the Finals in the 200 Fly. The senior finished third in the prelims with a time of 1:55.33. First year Reid McAllister earned a spot in a Final for the first time in his collegiate career. McAllister beat his previous career-best time by nearly nine seconds to finish 14^th overall (2:04.66). Sophomore Isaiah Frei earned the final spot in the B Final with a collegiate-best mark of 2:07.17 to finish 16^th. 
 
Spicer came in third overall in the A Final to earn his best career individual performance at NWCs. He registered a career-best time of 1:53.79 to move into third in program history. McAllister and Frei placed 15^thand 16^th in the B Final. McAllister touched the wall in 2:05.44 and Frei came across in 2:10.56. 
 
Frei also qualified for the B Final in the 200 Backstroke. He finished in 12^th in the Prelims with a season-best time of 2:00.69. In the night session, Frei placed 13^th overall with a time of 2:01.10. First year Max Zuberbuhler posted a collegiate-best time of 2:29.66 to finish 22^nd overall. 
 
First year Kofi Franklin represented Lewis & Clark in the 200 Breaststroke. Franklin notched a time of 2:40.67 to place 40^th.
 
Lewis & Clark capped off the meet with a second-place showing in the 400 Free Relay. The quartet of Billings, Spicer, LoCurto and Martin recorded a time of 3:05.69 to improve their season-best time by 5.12 seconds. The group moved up to second all-time in school history in the event. 
 
WOMEN'S 
 
Barton and Cummings each earned the second All-Conference accolades of their weekend to lead women's swimming on Sunday. 
 
Barton led six women's swimmers in the 100 Free. She finished second in prelims when she recorded a career-best time of 53.68. Her time moved her into eighth place in program history. In the A Final, she notched a time of 54.53 to earn the first, First Team All-Conference award of her career. 
 
Fellow senior Ella Gimon placed second on the team with a time of 59.96. Senior Kyra Milner came across with a career-best time of 1:02.17 -an improvement of nearly two seconds on her PR. Milner finished 40^thoverall. Junior Ainsley Rios registered a career-best time of 1:03.47 to take 42^nd overall. Sophomore Xandra Kuenz (1:05.86) and senior Emma Wind (1:18.92) each posted career-best times to place 46^th and 47^thoverall. 
 
Cummings and first year Zoe Thorpe each qualified for the Finals in the 200 Backstroke. Cummings placed fifth in the morning session with a time of 2:16.51. Thorpe beat her career-best time by almost four seconds to finish 15^th and earn her first trip to a Final. First year Emily McAnally added a career-best time of her own to finish 20^th overall (2:31.05). 
 
In the 200 Backstroke A Final, Cummings took sixth overall with a mark of 2:17.24. Thorpe improved upon her career-best time in the B Final, as she registered a time of 2:21.67 to place 15^th. 

Senior AJ Schroeder qualified for the B Final in the 200 Breaststroke. They improved their season-best time by almost four seconds to finish 14^th overall (2:38.95). Schroeder shaved off another 0.69 seconds in the B Final to finish 14^th overall with a time of 2:38.26. 
 
Senior Aniqah Gaffoor was the final women's swimmer to make a Final on Sunday. She notched a time of 2:32.45 to place 12^th in the prelims. She finished second in the B Final to take 10^th overall with a time of 2:28.58. 
 
Sophomore Claire Hurty earned points for the team in the 1,650 Free. She posted a time of 20:09.03 in the 1,650 Free to come across in 14^th place. 
 
In the final race of the weekend, women's swimming finished eight in the 400 Free Relay. The team of Barton, Thorpe, Gaffoor and Cummings posted a time of 3:46.27. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Twelve swimmers, six from each team, earned points as individuals and 15 total River Otters posted points at the meet. 
• Billings finished third amongst all NWC men's swimmers with 54 points as an individual. Whitworth's Austin Elwyn (60) and Jake Sachtjen (56) were the only swimmers to finish ahead of Billings. In two seasons, Billings has posted 114 out of a possible 120 possible points. 
• The men's 400 Free Relay team's time was the second-fastest in school history. The 2024-25 team of Billings, LoCurto, Rysavy and Martin set the program record of 3:03.88 when they finished first at the NWC Championship Meet. 
• Billings (five), Martin (four), Spicer (three), LoCurto (three), Barton (two), Cummings (two) and Gaffoor all earned All-Conference honors across the three-day meet.
• Billings is the first swimmer in men's program history to win the 100 Free multiple times at NWCs. He's the first River Otter to repeat as NWC Championship in any event since Andrew Potter won three-straight titles in the 400 IM and 200 Fly between 1989-91. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
 Lewis & Clark's season has likely come to a close. Billings owns NCAA "B" cut times in the 50 and 100 Free and could qualify for the NCAA DIII Swimming Championship Meet.