The Idaho swim and dive team traveled to Houston to compete against seven collegiate programs for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships over the weekend.
The Vandals finished fifth overall behind the strong individual performances of several underclassmen.
Freshman diver Janelle Lucas ran away with the individual title for Idaho with a score of 278.20. The next closest competitor finished 32 points behind Lucas.
Lucas earned the title despite only occasional diving appearances on the platform this season.
Two other Vandals provided strong showings for Idaho in diving competition.
Sophomore Maren Seljevold placed sixth and sophomore Nikki Imanaka placed eighth in the B final during the weekend. Seljevold earned a score of 176.30 points while Imanaka finished with 165.30 points.
Freshman swimmer Sarah Mabee-Hall added another impressive performance during her first season with the Vandals. Mabee-Hall competed in the 1650 freestyle and earned a tenth place finish with a time of 17:16.37.
Sophomore Cara Jernigan placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke during the WAC Championships. The swimmer completed the event in 2:16.13.
Three of Jernigan’s teammates added points from the B final. Freshman Clothilde Peseux won the race in 2:19:37, while freshman Lauren Votava earned a sixth place finish and sophomore Delaney Boulo trailed behind Vovata in seventh place.
Junior Victoria Papke earned an eighth place finish in the 200 backstroke, while sophomore Alexandria Magrino placed third in the B final of the 200 backstroke and freshman Erica King took fourth.
Freshman Emily Kliewer clinched second in the 100 free B final round while freshman Maryanna Kok grabbed sixth.
Freshman swimmer Vivian Crow competed in the 200 fly and finished sixth overall.
The 400 free relay team of Kok, Kliewer, freshman Aileen Pannecoucke, Â and senior Sami Hendricks placed fifth with a time of 3:26.11.
Northern Arizona earned the WAC title on the women’s side of competition with a final score of 807.5. New Mexico State finished second with 488 points, while Grand Canyon and CSU-Bakersfield earned a third and fourth place standing with 466.5 and 463 points respectively.
The Vandals earned a better finish than North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Seattle University.
Tess Fox can be reached art [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos