Swim falls to pair of Pac-12 foes in Arizona
Cougars lose by a combined 132 points to Sun Devils, Wildcats
PAIGE CAMPBELL | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Freshman freestyle swimmer Keiana Fountaine finishes third in the women’s 100 freestyle heat against Boise State on Nov. 10 at Gibb Pool.
January 12, 2019
WSU swimming traveled to the desert to take on a pair of Pac-12 foes Friday and Saturday.
The Cougars (3-6, 0-4) battled No. 14 Arizona (3-2, 2-2) first on Friday and failed to start their road trip with a win as they fell 150-107.
Although they didn’t earn the victory, Head Coach Matt Leach still saw a lot of positives in his young team.
“Since we got here in Arizona, we’ve talked about culture and how it is important to have two things: strong attitude and strong effort,” Leach said in a WSU news release. “Throughout the meet, we did a really good job of that.”
One of the most successful performances against Arizona came from sophomore Taylor McCoy. To begin, she won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:45.64 alongside sophomore Mackenzie Duarte, freshman Emily Barrier and freshman Keiana Fountaine.
McCoy also took home three individual wins the 100 and 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard individual medley.
McCoy wasn’t the only sophomore that managed to contribute to the team effort and culture that Leach preaches. Duarte collected first place in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke.
Fountaine picked up a victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.05 to give the Cougars seven event wins against the Wildcats.
WSU wrapped up its trip Saturday with a matchup with No. 25 Arizona State (2-3, 2-2) in Tempe. The Cougars lost 174-85.
Duarte continued her winning ways from Friday by earning her sixth individual victory of the season in the 200-yard breaststroke. She also took home second place in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke.
“We’re learning how to swim great programs back-to-back and that takes time,” Leach said in the release.
McCoy collected her 13th win of the season by clocking in at 2:07.61 in the 200-yard individual medley.
Fountaine earned her 27th top five finish this season placing second in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle.
Junior Ryan Falk took home second in the 200-yard freestyle and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle.
Leach said his team needs to focus on continuing to improve.
“We just have to continue to work on doing the little things the right way between intense dual meets like this,” he said in the release.
WSU won’t return to the pool until 5 p.m. Feb. 1 when they face Oregon State in Corvallis.
