WSU swim defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack 142-119 on Friday in Reno, Nevada. 

The Cougs won eight races en route to a victory in the pool. With Friday’s win, WSU improved to 4-3 on the season, with their last two weeks sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols within the swim program. 

“We got some of the dust and rust off, moved that along, and we finished really well,” head coach Matt Leach said after the meet.

Chloe Larson led the way with two wins in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle. Larson swam a time of 23.86 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle for first place and nine points for the Cougs. In the 100-meter freestyle, Larson swam a 52.75, winning the race by 0.13 seconds for another nine points for the Cougs. Larson has now won nine races this year, seven of which have come in the 50-meter freestyle.

“Chloe stepped up in the 100-free,” Leach said.

Taylor McCoy also won two races in Reno, claiming wins in both the 200-meter backstroke and the 400-meter individual medley. McCoy’s 200 time was 2:03.53 minutes, a full 4.19 seconds ahead of second-place Kiana Swain with a time of 2:07.72 minutes. McCoy’s dominance did not stop with the 200-meter backstroke, winning the 400-meter IM by nearly five seconds with a time of 4:28.33 minutes. McCoy now has 11 individual wins this season, which leads the team. 

WSU swim also won the 1000-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly, 500-meter freestyle and 4×400-meter freestyle relay. 

Noelle Harvey claimed the 1000-meter freestyle win, swimming a time of 10:26.89 minutes, 11 seconds ahead of second place. WSU earned 11 total points in this event as Josie Liebzeit placed fourth and earned two points. 

In the 200-meter butterfly, Ilaria Moro claimed another nine points for WSU, swimming a time of 2:06.92 minutes. The Cougs also earned 11 points in this event, as Mikaela Kirton placed fourth. 

The 500-meter freestyle was all WSU, who earned 14 of the 19 total points given for the event. Keiana Fountaine won the event with a time of 5:08.65 minutes, beating out her teammate, Harvey, by one second. 

In the 4×400-meter freestyle relay, WSU took the 11 points awarded to first place, winning the event with a time of 3:29.90 minutes. Angela Di Palo, Larson, Hailey Grotte and Fountaine were on the winning team. WSU also placed third in the race, swimming a time of 3:32.63 minutes. The third-place Cougs were a mere 0.23 seconds behind the second-place Wolf Pack team. 

“All in all, it was a good solid finish for us,” Leach said.

Notable wins for the Wolf Pack include the 4×200-meter medley relay, 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter breaststroke. Colette Berkenfield anchored the 4×200-meter relay leg, helping Nevada defeat the Cougs in the event by 0.80 seconds. Nevada swam a time of 1:44.52 minutes in the 4×200-meter relay.

Josien Wijkhuijs competed in the 4×200-meter medley relay, 100-meter backstroke, 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly. She picked up two individual wins, one relay win and a second-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle. 

The Cougs will compete in the Pac-12 Conference Championships in Federal Way, Wash. starting Feb. 23.