Washington State vs Idaho (Women)
- February 3, 2024
- Moscow, Idaho
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: WSU Athletics
MOSCOW, Idaho (February 3, 2024) – Washington State followed up a win over Utah Friday night with a dominating 173-115 victory over Idaho in Moscow Saturday morning.
The Cougars won 11 of the 14 swimming events including both relay events as sophomores Emily Lundgren and Dori Hathazi each won two races while sophomore Anna Rauchholz, senior Kiana Swain, sophomore Lauren Wille and freshman Ariel Wang each added wins.
“After a great win last night over Utah on Senior Night we wanted to make sure we were focused and ready to come in to Idaho with a lot of energy and we did that, going 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. We put together some really good wins throughout the day, I thought we did a good job of keeping the focus on getting ready for Pac-12’s and trying to compete at the high-level,” head coach Matt Leach said. “We had a solid performance to end the regular season with a pair of wins and will now focus on the Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Championships. Go Cougs!”
For the second straight day, WSU opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay (Rauchholz, Lundgren, Hathazi, Selena Duran Ortiz) before Angela Di Palo started a streak of four straight wins beginning in the 200 free (1:51.57), Rauchholz followed with a win in the 100 back (54.76), Lundgren won the 100 breast (1:02.20) and Hathazi capped the stretch with a win in the 200 fly (1:57.40).
Washington State later closed the meet with six straight wins with Swain claiming the 200 back (1:59.96) and Lundgren touched first in the 200 breast (2:14.13) before Wille tallied her first win this season and second of her career after posting a 4:57.65 to win the 500 free. Hathazi followed with a win in the 100 fly (54.93), Wang won the 200 IM (2:02.55) and the 400 free relay team of Hathazi, Brgoch, Di Palo and Duran Ortiz ended a 2-0 week for the Cougs with a victory.
The Cougars will now train for the 2024 Pac-12 Conference Championships set for February 29-March 2 in Federal Way, Wash.
Courtesy: Idaho Athletics
MOSCOW, Idaho – Ella Haskins and Ginger Kiefer combined to break three school records, while Idaho swim and dive (5-5) fell in their regular season finale to Washington State, 173-115 on Saturday at the UI Swim Center.
“Breaking records is fun and doing it at a dual meet at our pool is something we don’t do very often,” Head Coach Mark Sowa expressed. “I think the last time that happened was my first year here and those records were not nearly as fast as the records that are up here now. That was a blast. With Ella (Haskins), we knew those swims were there and it’s fun watching her put that together. In October, Ginger’s 1000 (freestyle) looked pretty promising so that was a heck of a swim right there. She had two very tired swims after that – not sure if she realized how hard that was. Those names on those boards are great Vandals and now we get to put some new great Vandals back up on that board.”
The meet didn’t offer the final score that the Vandals had hoped for but Idaho was able to post five first-place performances and six runner-up finishes against a Pac-12 opponent.
Idaho took advantage in the freestyle events specifically, as Haskins posted two wins in the 50 and 100 free while Kiefer took home the top spot in the 1000 free.
Kiefer was first to etch her name in the Idaho record book, posting a time of 10:09.17 to pass former Vandal alum Christine Rnezini by more than six seconds (10:15.57) for first all-time.
Haskins swam her way to a time of 22.94 in the 50 free to break the previously 10-year-old record held by Erica Anderson (23.08). She followed that up with another record-breaking performance in the 100 free, racing to a top spot in 49.90.
The historic performance by Haskins was especially impressive as the former WAC Swimmer of the Year, Rachel (Millet) Sewell, who previously held the top mark was in attendance.
Lauren Wierschke took first in both diving events for Idaho. She posted a score of 259.95 in the 3-meter and 259.15 in the 1-meter.
Zoe Froh, Grace Ruble and Idaho’s 400 free relay team all took home second-place finishes in their respective events. Froh finished in 5:06.31 in the 500 free. Ruble took the second spot in both the 100 (56.17) and 200 (2:04.70) fly, while the 400 free relay team put down a time of 3:25.62.
At the conclusion of the home meet, Head Coach Mark Sowa and his staff honored nine seniors who spent their last four seasons donning the Silver and Gold.
“This group came in the fall of 2020, where we weren’t sure what athletics was even going to look like,” Sowa said. “They really got us out of a pretty dark place and they brought a ton of youthful energy. They found a way to make it normal and I will always be grateful for this group. They led to a lot of healing which is awesome and they have changed this program for the better.”
The Idaho divers travel to Flagstaff, AZ next weekend for the three-day (Feb. 8-10) annual Lumberjack Diving Invitational, Feb. 8-10, while the swimmers prepare for the WAC Championships (Feb. 28-Mar. 2).
