Washington State Cuts Down Lumberjacks

After trailing early, the Washington State swim team rallied from behind, Friday, to take down the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona 149-142. The winner was decided during the final race of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay, when the Cougar team turned their two point deficit into a seven point victory.
 
NAU jumped out to a 24-point lead after winning each of the first four events, but the Cougars responded, finishing 1-2-3 and picking up 16 points in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle.
 
"It Took a total team effort to come back, they jumped ahead at the very beginning of the meet, they were on a roll until the 100 breaststroke when we came back with a 1-2-3 finish that put a little bit of life back in the team," said WSU Head Coach Erica Quam. "They really came together as a group, the captains did a great job of encouraging one another and we kept fighting."
 
WSU emerged victorious in each of the last five swimming events, including key wins in the 400 freestyle by Breezy Gonzales and the 200 individual medley by Talor Whitaker, which Quam said put the team in position to win down the stretch.
 
Whitaker added another win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.94, edging out teammates Shawna Keller and Jessie Craig by less than a second. Whitaker earned a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly, giving her 21 individual points for the event.
 
Michaela Ahlin's winning time of 1:03.52 in the 100 butterfly set a Wall Aquatic Center pool record. Ahlin added another first place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:23.68). The senior from Tyreso, Sweden also picked up a third place finish in the 800 freestyle, tying Whitaker with 21 points.
 
The Cougars will be on short rest Saturday when they travel to Tempe, Ariz., to compete against Pac-10 foe Arizona State, the first conference opponent of the season. The meet which was originally scheduled for noon, local time has been pushed back an hour and will start at 1 p.m. WSU will look to get revenge after a 172.5-115.5 loss last season.
 
"We look forward to not being at 7,200 feet. Flagstaff is a challenging place to swim," said Quam. "Our student-athletes are looking forward to being back down at sea level and back at a yards pool, but I think they will be ready to go (Saturday)."




Northern Arizona swimming and diving finished second in the 200 freestyle relays while Washington State claimed the first and third spots to lift the Cougars to a 149-142 victory in the last event of the day at the Wall Aquatic Center on Friday. The Lumberjacks led the entire meet as Washington State chipped away at the NAU lead and pulled out the come-from-behind win.

NAU (1-2) jumped out to a 49-25 lead winning the first four events of the day behind strong individual performances from Kristin Jones in the 800-meter freestyle, Vivian Landeck in the 200-meter freestyle, and Fiona Connell in the 100-backstroke, who set a pool record with a time of 1:03.30. All three swimmers won their respective events while Connell teamed with T.J. Williams, Rachael Foe, and Meredith Egloria to win the 200 medley relay to start the meet.

Washington State (2-1) answered in the next two events finishing in the top three positions in the 100-meter breaststroke behind first-place finisher Talor Whitaker and Michaela Ahlin then notched a win in the 200-meter butterfly. Foe halted the Cougar run with a victory in the 50-meter freestyle, and the Lumberjacks headed into the diving break with a narrow 66-62 edge.

NAU picked up 18 points in the 3-meter competition as Washington State fielded zero divers in the event.  Lana Christensen took the 3-meter scoring 291.38 followed by Taryn Harris and Kristy Ardavanis. The Lumberjacks would total 32 points in the diving portion of the meet.

With a 20-point lead, NAU saw its lead once again dwindle down to five points before the next break for diving. Washington State won four of those five events with Connell earning the only first-place win for the Lumberjacks in the 200 backstroke.

With Harris’ win in the 1-meter and NAU picking up another 18 points in that event, Washington State again answered the call going first and third in the 200-meter individual medley and cutting the NAU lead to 138-136.

With 11 points reserved for first place in the final event, the 200 freestyle relay, the winner of that race would win the meet. Washington State finished first and third picking up its second dual win of the year. The Lumberjacks slipped to 1-2 in duals this season.

In all, five NAU swimmers recorded first-place finishes to Washington State’s seven. The two teams split in the relays.

The Lumberjacks will head to Boise, Idaho next weekend for a road dual meet against Boise State on Friday, November 13 at 1 p.m.