On Friday Nov. 7 Washington State did laps around Colorado State, handing them their second loss of the season, 195-66. The Cougar swim team is now 3-0 in dual meets, after beating Denver and Northern Arizona earlier in the year.
Washington State trailed the all-time series 2-1 heading into Friday, with its only win coming at Colorado State in the prior season. This is the first time since the mid-’90s that the Rams ventured up to Pullman.
The night started with an impressive outing in the 200-yard medley relay, with Colorado State’s C-team disqualified. This secured a 13-point lead, 15-2 in total.
Senior Emily Lundgren passed the 50-win mark last night, winning the 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard breaststroke and 100-yard breaststroke, contributing 27 points to WSU’s final tally.
A WSU swimmer participating in the freestyle event in the meet against the University of Denver at Gibb pool, Oct. 31
“It means a lot, four years here with the Cougs, I never put a number on how many wins I thought I would have, and it was definitely never going to be fifty,” said Lundgren.
Junior Melhika Yelcin and sophomore Issabelle Parrish secured their first career wins. Yelcin, seeing success in the 200-yard butterfly, and Parrish in the 100-yard butterfly, tacked on a combined 22 points to the total score.
Sophomore Darcy Revitt had herself a night, winning in the 200-yard medley, 50-yard freestyle, 100 yard-freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relay. She placed on top in all four events she participated in.
Record-breaking has been common this season as four more records were splashed out of the pool. The 200-yard medley relay team impressed once again, setting a pool record with a 1:37.74. The other three happened in the 1000-yard freestyle, as sophomore Tatum Janning achieved a time to take No. 5 all-time, while freshman Sophie Hay and Avery Bulkley followed behind in the record books, taking No. 6 and 7.
Confidence is key, and the game-changer for this year’s squad, the word being common when speaking to senior Lauren Wille and head coach Russel Whitaker.
“Not putting too much pressure on time specifically, just going out there and having fun,” said Wille.
Wille scored 18 and won the 200 and 500-yard freestyle.
“It’s 100% the confidence in this group of women,” said Whitaker, “That depth has to show up.”
A WSU swimmer participating in the freestyle event in the meet against the University of Denver at Gibb pool, Oct. 31
The aquatic Cougs won 12 of the 14 events, with the only missteps being the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke. Despite the losses, the second and third-place steps belonged to WSU.
Later this month, the Cougs will travel to Iowa City for the Hawkeye Invitational, facing many impressive Big Ten sides.
“That mid-season meet is more about putting us in the best position for our conference championship meet and qualify for the NCAA,” said Whitaker.
This was WSU’s last home meet until Jan. 30, when neighbors Idaho come to town.
