Idaho whips Grand Canyon on Senior Day

Idaho’s Swim and dive team dominates Grand Canyon

Every senior wants to win on Senior Day, and the Idaho swim and dive team did just that. 

Saturday, the Vandals beat WAC opponent Grand Canyon 213-89 at the University of Idaho Swim Center.

For Idaho coach Mark Sowa, the seniors have meant a lot to him.

“It’s tough to put into words,” Sowa said. “They mean everything. They’ve been here from start to finish.”

Although it was Senior Day, Idaho still competes one more time at the UI Swim Center when it takes on Utah Feb. 14.

The Vandals honored six seniors and one junior (Jamie Sterbis) before the start of the meet. Sterbis is graduating early, and while she has one year of eligibility left after this season, she is not sure if she will return to the pool next season.

“They’re tremendous athletes, they’re tremendous competitors, but they’re even better women and we’re so proud of them,” Sowa said. “We’re so happy for them, and they still got a lot of swimming to do, and they still got a lot of racing to do, but it was very nice for us to be able to honor them here and to get them a win.”

Against Grand Canyon, Idaho was led by senior Rachel Millet, who won all three of her individual events — the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.21, the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.22 and the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:04.95. Millet also helped her team win the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.45. Freshman Cara Jernigan, Sterbis and senior Erica Anderson made up the rest of the winning team.

Millet, the 2014 WAC Swimmer of the Year, was one of the seniors honored before the competition.

“We kind of joked about who was going to be the first one to cry,” Millet said. “It wasn’t me. You kind of know what to expect, because you’ve seen it for three years. But you don’t really know how you’re going to feel. I mean I was just excited, trying to have a lot of fun this year.”

Sterbis and freshman Christine Renzini each won two individual events. Sterbis won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03 and the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.68. Sterbis, senior Kirah Monks, junior Sami Hendricks and Anderson won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:30.58.

Sterbis competed against Grand Canyon’s Hannah Kastigar in two events. Sterbis said she has competed against Kastigar basically her entire life from their days in South Dakota. Sterbis is from Brookings, South Dakota, and Kastigar is from Aberdeen.

In the 200 butterfly, Kastigar took second and Sterbis took first. In the 400 freestyle relay, Kastigar was on the second place team and Sterbis was on the first place team.

“I was really looking forward to this meet, because we love racing each other,” Sterbis said.

Renzini won the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:19.30. Renzini also won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:13.18.

Idaho freshman Nikki Imanaka won the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events.

In the 3-meter, Imanaka posted a score of 216.30 and beat junior teammate Delaney Peugh, who posted a 210.15 for second place. In the 1-meter, Imanaka scored a 219.68. Her freshman teammate Maren Seljevold earned a 214.50 to take second.

“The way to beat a good team, and the way to beat a team that has some high-end talent, is to get after them early and try to put them back on their heels,” Sowa said. “I think we did a good job of that.”

After two consecutive home competitions, the Vandals will be out of Idaho next week. The divers will compete at the Air Force Invite Friday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the swimmers will take on Oregon State Saturday in Corvallis, Oregon.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]