The Idaho women’s swim and dive team had a successful trip to Seattle to take on the University of Seattle Redhawks.
The Vandals (2-1) were victorious in 12 of the 14 events and managed to sweep the top three spots in three of the events on the way to a 182-78 victory Saturday. The meet was swimming-only since the University of Seattle (0-1) does not sponsor a diving team.
Senior Alexandria Magrino led the way with winning efforts in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, and she also started off the 200-medley relay that the Vandals would go on to win.
Fellow senior Cara Jernigan had an impressive day both in her individual events and in a relay. She dominated the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events before finishing with a win in the 200-yard individual medley. As if that wasn’t enough, she also boosted the 200-yard medley relay team with a 30.33 time on the breaststroke leg that was nearly two-and-a-half seconds faster than her Seattle counterpart. Idaho managed a win in the medley relay by six-tenths of a second, even though they were slower than the Seattle team for three of the four legs of the event.
“Our seniors led the way today, showing how to be Vandals,” Idaho head coach Mark Sowa said in a news release. “Wins are never easy and we will enjoy it because Seattle is a very good team. We appreciate the opportunity to race good opponents.”
The Vandal underclassmen were able to contribute plenty of success against the Redhawks in the meet as well.
Freshman Emma Schlyter won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events to continue the strong start to her collegiate career. She finished with a time of 1:54.84 in the 200 and a time of 5:11.84 in the 500. Junior Leah Fisk finished second in the 200 and 500 events with times of 1:57.36 and 5:14.54 in the respective races.
“These athletes did a great job today of showing their focus, preparation, and relaxed execution,” Sowa said. “It was encouraging to see the improvement from last week but also the improvement in their approach. It was an outstanding team effort across all fronts.”
Idaho will take on Cal State Bakersfield and Hawaii on Oct. 28 in Bakersfield.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected]