PACIFIC LUTHERAN LUTES
NAME YR. EVENTS
Alyssa Anderson So. Free
WOMEN
HOMETOWN
Lacey Wash. / River Ridge
Lola Chargualaf Fr. Fly Oak Harbor, Wash. / Oak Harbor
Ellie Cutting Fr. Free Anchorage, Alaska / West Anchorage
Matthea Gaines Fr. Free Graham, Wash. / Mount Tahoma
Emma Gassman So. Back/Fly Sitka, Alaska / Sitka
Anna Haneda So. Free Tokyo, Japan / The American School in Japan
Scout Hawkins Fr. Breast/IM Denver, Colo. / Littleton
Keira Iwamoto Fr. Free/Breast Honolulu, Hawaii / Sacred Hearts Academy
Jessica Lee Sr. Free/Back Port Orchard, Wash. / Enumclaw
Riley Maher So. Fly/Breast
Eugene, Ore. / Sheldon
Ella Norby Fr. Free/Breast Lacey, Wash. / River Ridge
Michelle Owen Jr. Free/Fly
Puyallup, Wash. / Rogers
Julissa Pernsteiner Fr. Free/Breast Vancouver, Wash. / Saint Mary’s Academy
Karina Yevstifieieva Fr. Free/Fly Gig Harbor, Wash. / Gig Harbor
Melissa Zuniga So. Fly/IM
NAME YR. EVENTS
Hoskoo Amgalan So. Free
Ben Coats So. Free/Breast
MEN
Zillah, Wash. / Toppenish
HOMETOWN / PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia / Orchlon International
Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup
Dylan Dang So. Fly/Free San Jose, Calif. / Olympia
Dakota Domingo Fr. Free/Breast Hilo, Hawaii / Hilo
Luke Farag Sr. Free/Back Renton, Wash. / Kentridge
Christian Georgi Fr. Breast/IM
August Hertz Fr. Free/Fly
Anthony James Fr. Free
San Antonio, Texas / Sotomayor
Charlo, Mont. / Polson
Lacey, Wash. / River Ridge
Sam Johnson So. Free/Breast Kent, Wash. / Kentridge
Aidan Koshinsky So. Free DuPont, Wash. / Steilacoom
Na’inoa Loo Sr. Breast/IM Hilo, Hawaii / Waiakea
Thomas Pringle So. Breast
Devin Stanley Sr. Free/Breast/IM
Lacey, Wash. / River Ridge
Maple Valley, Wash. / Tahoma
Tyler Tanaka Jr. Breast/IM/Free Anahola, Hawaii / Kapaa
Ben Thompson Jr. Free Eugene, Ore. / North Eugene
Elijah Vickery Fr. Free
Emiliano Zuniga So. Fly/Back
HEAD COACH: Andrew Lum (third year)
ASSISTANT COACH: Kaycee Simpson
Richland, Wash. / Richland
Zillah, Wash. / Toppenish
sarah arpag Fly/IM/Back Hood River, Oregon
kirsti keppo Fly/Distance Free/IM Eugene, Oregon
levi buker Free/Fly Medford, Oregon
LINFIELD WILDCATS
bentz Breast/Fly Gladstone, Oregon
Sprints
haydu Free Poulsbo, Washington CHloe lazaraton Free/Back Redding, California
mullins IM/Free Gresham, Oregon
Caley
Zumbrum
WILDCAT SPOTLIGHT
WATER: FOR SPORT AND STUDY
Swimmer Levi Buker’s studies in environmental science have piqued his interest in the management of natural waterways
by KELLEN WIGGINS ’28
Levi Buker is a prime example of what it means to be a student-athlete at Linfield University.
The senior freestyle and butterfly specialist is obsessed with the sport of swimming. He is thankful for what the sport brings to not only his competitive self in the water, but also outside of the water. He says his experiences as a student-athlete at Linfield have been nothing short of amazing. They have ranged from competing with his brother, Lucas, all the way to com pleting internships that will set the stage for his life and career beyond Linfield.
Growing up in Ketchikan, Alaska, an island populated by 8,000 people, Buker was surrounded by what covers 71 percent of the earth…water.
“Living on the island and having a boat, my parents got me involved in swim lessons early on so that I could be safe and prepared to be out on the water with them,” he says.
It didn’t take long for regular swim ming lessons to turn to competitive swimming lessons as Buker soon fell in love with swimming.
“I got into swimming competitively when I was 6, and I’ve been swimming for club and high school teams ever since.”
As a beginning competitive swimmer, Buker admired the team aspect of the sport. Competing individually was fun, yet there were others he could lean on, and others could lean on him to create truly an outstanding team culture.
“I loved the team aspect of the sport,” he says, looking back. “Being able to see people at practice who were anywhere from 6 like me up through high school seniors. We all learned to support each other and look out for each other, which solidified my love and passion for the sport.”
Fast forward to the senior’s swimming career at Linfield, Buker now is enjoying the opportunity this season to do something remarkable, swim with his younger brother Lucas. The last time Levi got to swim with Lucas was when he was a senior in high school and Lucas was a freshman. Now the opportunity to swim at the
collegiate level will be an experience that the brothers will look back on as a special time further down the line.
“Having Lucas on the team with me this year has been so much fun!” he says with a smile. “I got to swim my last year of high school with them as well. It’s been amazing to see their progress and growth since the last time I was able to be on a team
Reflecting back to high school, Buker believes he was more of a mentor to Lucas then, but now he feels like a true teammate and is excited for the chance to compete together this season. Buker has also taken quick notice of the significant improvements Lucas has made since the last time they swam together.
Outside of being an excellent swimmer, Levi is also an outstanding scholar. He is majoring in mathematics, while also minoring in environmental studies. Buker has always been interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
“I’ve always been more STEM-oriented and those types of classes and concepts have always been easier for me to understand and comprehend than subjects like English or social studies.” Buker began to consider majoring in mathematics after being inspired by Dr. Stephen Bricher at Linfield. Dr. Bricher’s ways of teaching made his vector calculus class enjoyable, inspiring Buker to pursue mathematics
“After having Dr. Bricher for vector calc my freshman year and enjoying his class and his teaching style, I started thinking more and more about the major.”
This last summer, Buker undertook an environmental studies internship with Linfield assistant professor Dr. Kurt Ingeman, giving him further clarity as to what he wanted to pursue beyond college.
“After doing a research internship monitoring freshwater mussels in the Yamhill Watershed, I want to try and pursue a career that gets me involved with data collection and analysis along with environmental science.”
Levi Buker has experienced a robust career as a competitive athlete and a top-end student at Linfield, leaving no doubt he is destined for great things once he completes his degree this spring.