Head Swimming Coach Tom Jager knew a trip to the Bay area to face the No. 2 Stanford Cardinals and No. 1 California Golden Bears in dual meets was going to be a challenge.

The Washington State University women’s swimming team came off a loss to the Cardinals and hoped to bounce back the following day on the eastern shore of the Bay Area against Cal, but the team was unable to gain any momentum against the best team in the nation. The Cougars fell to the Golden Bears 164-89 in a blowout.

Elise Locke was the standout freshman for the Cougars, placing second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.07 and netting a time of 4:37.25 in the 400-yard IM. Not to be outdone, senior Emma Johansson nabbed two second-place finishes, including the 100-yard butterfly in 56.97 seconds and the 50-yard freestyle in just 24.00 seconds.

Other notable swimmers included junior Nicole Proulx, sophomores Loree Olson and Frederikke Hall, and senior Kelly Tannhauser, who splashed their way to second-place finishes at the dual meet.

The Cougars didn’t fare much better against Stanford in the first dual meet of the season, trailing most of the meet and then rallying for a comeback. However, the team ultimately came up short, 147-104.

In 16 events, Stanford dominated WSU earning 12 top finishes, while jumping out to the early lead. However, the Cougars did comprise some strong individual performances against Stanford, including Locke who led the way with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and an impressive 5:05.48 time. Senior Heather Morlan and two other Cougar swimmers finished in the top four in the same event.

It was WSU that took complete control in the 100-yard butterfly. Johansson swam her way to a first-place finish with a final time of 56.67 seconds, and she netted a first-place overall finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The relay team consisting of Johansson, junior Alison Mand, freshman Hailey Rose Love, and Proulx finished nearly seven seconds ahead of the next Cougar relay group with a time 3:31.53.

The Cougars look to build off their 0-2 start and will get some much needed rest before preparing for their first home meet against last year’s No. 1 USC Oct. 18 in Gibb Pool.