The Oregon State and BYU women’s meet came down to the wire, but it was BYU that took home the victory on Saturday. The final decision was a tight 133-129. Despite the loss, distance specialist Sammy Harrison won two events for Oregon State: the 500 and 1000 (10:22.29).
Oregon State:
Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State swim team won 8 of 14 events, had four individual event-winners, and posted numerous season-best times on Saturday in a dual with BYU at the Dixon Recreation Center.
The ultimate prize eluded the Beavers, however. The Cougars went 1-3 in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the final event, to claim a 133-129 victory at the Stevens Natatorium.
The Beavers led 125-120 in their first home meet in six weeks heading into the concluding relay. The Cougars took a slight lead in the first leg, though and held on to edge the Beavers by less than a second (1:35.84-1:36.62) to win the 11 first-place points.
They also took third for two additional points, preventing the Beavers from tying the meet.
Czsarina Isleta won three events; Sammy Harrison and Amani Amr doubled and Anni Hecker won once. Amr and Isleta also swam legs on the victorious 200 medley relay in what coach Larry Liebowitz termed an impressive day in the pool.
“It was a great meet for us, we raced well, stronger than what we’ve seen” thus fall this fall. Liebowitz said. “Some of the swims that were surprising were Czsarina in the 100 individual medley, and Annie Hecker winning the 100 freestyle from the outside lane.
“There were a lot of swims that made me smile. We are looking good and ready to go to what we call a big taper meet in Houston next weekend.
“This was a great meet for us. You want to win if you can, but the splits on our relays were the best we’ve had all year, it was just a good meet.”
Amr won the 100 backstroke (57.73), the 200 backstroke (2:05.66), swam the opening leg of the triumphant 200 medley relay (1:46.38) and took fifth in the 100 IM (1:00.18).
“We are starting our taper so I felt like I could get out there and really sprint, because we were a little bit rested,” she said. “I was happy with my races, I had some season-bests.
“It’s really exciting when we get in a close meet. We are always motivated to beat the other team, especially when it’s so close at the end.”
Added Liebowitz: She was awesome, she did a great job. Her aggressiveness in her races is what made her be great today.”
Isleta swam the second leg on the 200 medley relay and then led a 1-2-3 OSU sweep in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.34. Corrine Shigeta was second (1:07.03) and Alice Ochs took third (1:07.94) as OSU won 16 of a possible 19 points in that event.
Isleta (2:22.11) and Shigeta (2:24.96) went 1-3 in the 200 breaststroke. Isleta then gave the Beavers a 125-120 lead heading into the final event by winning the rarely-contested 100 IM (59:13).
Harrison claimed the 500 and 1,000 (10:22.29) freestyles, and placed second in the 200 free (1:53.30), the event immediately after the 1,000. Hecker claimed the 100 free (53:16) from Lane 1, generally not conducive to fast times.
Claire McLaggan was second in the 50 free (24.57) and anchored the victorious medley relay foursome. Sophie MacEwan was third in the 100 backstroke (59.57), as was Megan Lam in the 200 butterfly (2:06.60).
Andrea Young swam the third leg of the winning medley relay team and also placed third in the 50 free (25:03).
The Beavers return to action this Thursday through Saturday at the Houston Invitational, hosted by the University of Houston.
BYU:
CORVALLIS, Ore.–Zerlynn Tiang and Lillian Moore led BYU in a close 133-129 team win against Oregon State at the Stevens Natatorium Saturday afternoon.
“I’m really proud of our team,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “Zerlynn and Lillian did a great job in all of their events. It was very close to the end and we had to win that last relay to win the meet, and we did, so that was very fun. We just put together a great team effort.”
The Cougars started the day by taking second and third in the 200-yard medley, with a team of Ashlee Spindler, Anna Dahl,Katie Smith and Alora Foliaki clocking a 1:48.71, followed byLauren Shaw Taylor, Hanna Skaggs, Ellie Thornbrue and Alexandria Sorensen with a 1:48.83 finish.
In the 1000 freestyle, Vanessa Moffatt finished in 10:34.58 for second place, while Tiang placed third with a 10:40.60.
Thornbrue won the 200 free with a 1:53.20 finish, with Kelly Hatanaka placing third for the Cougars with 1:55.46.
BYU took second place in the 100 backstroke with Spindler posting a 58.88 finish in the event.
Tiang got her first win of the day in the 200 butterfly, marking a 2:06.07 for first place. Moore followed closely behind with a 2:06.12, good enough for second.
Sorensen won the 50 free for BYU, sprinting to a 24.40 finish for first place in the event.
The Cougars took second and third in the 100 free, with Smith posting a 53.64 for second and Brenna Dickson clocking a 53.67 for third.
Hatanaka and Spindler placed second and third in the 200 back for the Cougars, finishing with times of 2:07.58 and 2:08.43, respectively.
In the 200 breaststroke, Riley Merrill posted a 2:24.82 finish, good enough for second place in the event.
BYU took second and third in the 500 free, with Thornbrue finishing second in 5:04.22 and Moffatt clocking a 5:09.84 for third.
The Cougars swept the 100 fly event, with Tiang taking first in 57.10, Sorensen placing second at 58.27 and Moore winning third with a 58.37 finish.
Moore and Hatanaka placed second and third for BYU in the 100 individual medley with finishes of 59.84 and 1:00.05, respectively.
In the last event of the day, the Cougars took the 200 free relay with a team comprised of Sorensen, Smith, Thornbrue and Foliaki clocking a 1:35.84 for first place. With that relay victory, BYU took the overall win in the meet.
The BYU divers will see their next action at the Arizona Diving Invite next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21 in Tucson, Arizona. A select group of swimmers from the men’s and women’s teams will then travel to the Texas Invite in Austin on Dec. 2-5.
Swimming news courtesy of Oregon State and BYU Swimming & Diving.
