Washington State 138, Boise State 63

Junior Michaela Ahlin broke a Gibb Pool record Sunday with her first-place finish in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 4:25.20. The previous record (4:26.67) was held by Ja-Neil Bragg of Pacific University set Nov. 2, 2007. Ahlin and the Cougars rolled past Boise State 138-63, advancing to 6-0 on the season.  The loss gave the Broncos a weekend split after beating Idaho just a day earlier.

Ahlin also tied with teammate sophomore Talor Whitaker for leading the meet, both swimmers chipping in 18 points apiece. Ahlin also had a first-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.54.

“Michaela has been incredibly consistent all season long,” WSU Head Coach Erica Quam said. “She’s really tired in training right now and wasn’t feeling the best this weekend, but it really shows what a seasoned athlete she is to be able to be able to still get up and have great races with good speed and consistency even when she’s not feeling that great. It was good to see her get that pool record today in the 400 IM. She was in a bit of a different place than in October and it just shows the steps she’s taken since then to be able to get that.”

Co-leading scorer Whitaker recorded her 18 points on the day with first-place finishes in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.09 and the 100 free with a time of 51.96.

“Talor has just shown great speed on her takeouts,” Quam said. “I think she’s consistently gaining confidence every time she steps up and is really not holding back in her races. I think she’ll continue to be better and better with the level of teams that we go up against here with the last two dual meets and then the Pac-10 Championships.”

Sophomore Rugile Mileisyte added nine points to the Cougars’ total with a first-place finish in the 50 free. Her finish time of 23.68 was just five-tenths of a second off from her Gibb Pool record time of 23.15 set earlier this fall.

“Rugile is getting up and being consistent in her racing,” Quam said. “She was a key in being able to pull off a win in the 200 freestyle relay against Idaho the other night and has just shown consistency in her turns, her breakouts and working on the little things. I think we’re starting to see her do things better and once she gets a little bit of rest, I think she’s really going to come around.”

The Cougars will be finishing up their season with conference dual meets against Oregon State in Corvallis Saturday, Jan. 31, and then home again against arch-rival Washington Saturday, Feb. 7 before heading into the Pac-10 Championships Feb. 25-28.

“It’s really good for us to have the level of those two teams going into Pac-10s,” Quam said. “It’s really going to set us up well. We’re excited to race both of them and it’s always really good competition against Oregon State and I think that we’re taking steps to be more competitive with UW. We’re really looking forward to those two meets to really set us up for the championship season.”

Broncos Take Weekend Split, Drop Dual To Washington State
The Boise State swim team dropped a tough dual meet to Washington State on Sunday in Pullman, Wash., 138-63. The loss gave the Broncos a weekend split after beating Idaho just a day earlier.

The meet began with the 400 medley relay and a third-place finish for the Broncos. Denise Green, Lauren Keele, Amber Boucher and Stephanie North finished at 3:58.29, less than half of a second behind the second-place Cougar team.

Katelyn Lofland gave Boise State another third-place finish in the 1000 free. Lofland recorded a time of 10:55.77. Samantha Eichner finished in fourth with a time of 11:29.51.

The 200 free brought more of the same results as Boucher finished in third for the Broncos. Boucher touched at 1:56.35, just behind the Cougars’ second-place finisher. Green finished in fifth at 1:59.71.

North recorded the Broncos first second-place finish in the 50 free. North recorded a time of 24.33 as the Broncos top finisher in the event.

Chelsea Lopus, on the back of a great meet in Idaho, brought in another second-place finish in the 400 IM. Lopus finished at 4:38.56 as Boise State’s top finisher. Keele and Hahto weren’t far behind as they finished in fourth and fifth for the Broncos.

The 200 fly was next up. Paige LaPorte led the way for the Broncos in the event as she recorded a time of 2:15.42 and a third-place finish. Sammy Sanchez-O’Dell finished in fifth at 2:26.46.

Kim Nelson led Boise State in the 100 free with a time of 54.96 and a fifth-place finish. Johanna Wubenna finished right Nelson in sixth at 55.57.

Lopus led the way for the Broncos once again in the 200 back. She finished in second with a time of 2:08.92. Green and Denny finished right behind her in third and fourth with times of 2:09.25 and 2:13.32, respectively.

The 500 free brought in another second-place finish for the Broncos as Lofland cruised to a time of 5:20.06 as the Broncos top finisher. Meisner finished directly behind her in third at 5:21.72.

Erin Stotts was the top finisher for the Broncos in the 200 breast in second with a time 2:25.91. Keele and Tara Hahto were the next to finish in third and fourth with times of 2:30.30 and 2:32.46, respectively.

The meet ended with the 400 free relay and a third straight second-place finish. North, Lopus, Sanchez-O’Dell and Nelson recorded a time of 3:38.13. The quartet was followed by Wubenna, Lopus, LaPorte and McLain in third at 3:46.55.

The Broncos will head south next week to take on Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. The meet will help the team continue to prepare for the WAC Championships that take place at the end of February.