Swimming faces Utah in duel

Team looks for their first dual meet win in conference play, second-to-last meet of the season for the Cougars

Then-freshman+Kate+Lauderoute%2C+dives+into+the+200+meter+individual+medley+against+Nevada+on+Sep.+28+at+Gibb+Pool.

ROLAND HUIE | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Then-freshman Kate Lauderoute, dives into the 200 meter individual medley against Nevada on Sep. 28 at Gibb Pool.

VASILI VARLAMOS, Evergreen reporter

WSU will try and break its dual meet losing streak as they travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes at 4 p.m. Friday at Ute Natatorium.

It is the last Pac-12 matchup of the season for the WSU swim team before it heads to Boise to face Boise State University in its last matchup of the regular season.

WSU (3-5, 0-4) had a rough schedule last week, losing Saturday to the UCLA Bruins and losing Friday to No. 9 Southern California.

Head coach Matt Leach’s team faces the Utah Utes (2-3, 1-3), the only Pac-12 conference team that is not ranked that the Cougars have faced all season in dual meets.

Coach Leach said this is somewhat of a newfound rivalry between the Utes and the Cougars.

“Hopefully we’ll get some good energy out of our girls and hopefully pick up a couple more wins,” Leach said. “Looking into some of our results and some of their results, I think we match up well.”

Sophomore Keiana Fountaine recorded wins against UCLA in the 50 and 100 freestyle as well as picking up a win in the 200 freestyle against the USC Trojans. Fountaine has five individual wins on the season. Junior Mackenzie Duarte also picked up a win against UCLA in the 200 breaststroke.

Leach said his goals for the team this upcoming meet are execution and energy.

“I think our girls would love to continue to send out our seniors on the right note and pick up a win as a team,” Leach said. “My goals will remain the same. We want to bring really good energy, and we want to try and execute, and if we do those two things well, we’ll be in a pretty good spot.”

The matchup between the Utah Utes and WSU will be at 4 p.m. on Friday at Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.