The University of Idaho Argonaut

The University of Idaho swimming team practices Wednesday afternoon. The Vandals head out to California to face San Diego State Friday in their second meet of the winter season. Kate Kucharzyk/Argonaut

Jager, team prepare for second meet in California

Improved from last year and off to a good start, the Idaho swim team heads to San Diego to face off against San Diego, UC-San Diego, San Diego State and Texas Christian.

Head coach Tom Jager said last year the team didn’t beat either Washington State team but already beat their gray team this year with a disqualification in a relay so the improvement is noticeable.

With every meet this season leading up to the WAC championships in February, Jager hopes to see even more improvement.

“It’s a long season and right now they are learning,” Jager said. “I hope they are learning to win a little too.”
With about fifteen returning swimmers and some exciting new faces coming in, the team is hoping for success this weekend.

Idaho is starting the season off strong with freshman, Treasa Ring, earning a new school record last weekend and currently ranked 27th in the nation. Ring set the Idaho school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.89.
Along with Ring, sprinters Si Jia Pang, Mandy Stone and Staci Stratton have started their season strong and should make major contributions to the team this weekend.

Senior Cortnee Hanson started the season with a 400-yard individual medley that was only seven seconds off her career high.

The Vandals come into the meet with similar standings as San Diego, with California-San Diego and Texas Christians above them and San Diego State setting the pace. If Idaho can beat a few of these close teams it will be a successful weekend, Jager said.

“We’re hoping to swim fast and have fun,” he said.