The Idaho swimming and diving team will go into winter break on a high note after beating the Fresno State Bulldogs 165-135 Saturday in Fresno.
The Vandals won nine of 16 events, and coach Mark Sowa said he was most impressed by his team’s toughness and tenacity after a difficult week of training.
“We came out aggressive,” Sowa said. “The (team) knew this was going to be a challenge. We just kept our foot on the accelerator and just kept trying to put together good races.”
The first event of the day, the 400 medley relay, set the tone for the meet with the Vandals taking first and third in the event. The winning team consisted of freshman Erica Anderson, junior Kelsie Saxe, freshman Rachel Millet and sophomore Megan Venlos, and beat the Bulldogs by 0.04 seconds.
“(The race) was really exciting,” Sowa said. “Megan Venlos is a heck of a good finisher. She swam against a very good freestyler and got her hand on the wall.”
In addition to the medley, Millet took first place in the 200 free, 100 free and 500 free. Anderson finished first in the 100 back, 200 back and was part of the winning 200 free relay with Venlos, and seniors Si Jia Pang and Katie Hendricks.
“(Millet and Anderson) are a pleasure to work with,” Sowa said. “Every day those two make each other better. They bring a lot of young energy to our team.”
Junior Paige Hunt won the 3-meter dive for the Vandals with 258.45. She also took second in the 1-meter dive.
Sowa was quick to point out that the Vandals would not have won without the second and third place finishes as well.
“To single out performances would always be a mistake,” Sowa said. “There were swims like (the second and third place finishes) that kind of could go underneath the radar. Our team notices that and feeds off of those swims.”
The victory over Fresno State signals the end of competition for the fall semester. The Vandals now focus on training and improving over winter break. The Vandals won’t compete again until Jan. 21 when they take on New Mexico State. The team will get a week off for Christmas before travelling to Arizona to continue training.
“(The team) has tasted a little bit of success and these kids are hungry for more,” Sowa said. “We have to swim really well to be competitive in this conference.”