The Vandals’ final home meet of the season was an encouraging balance as a last hurrah for the seniors and a glimpse of the future.
Idaho (3-6, 1-3 WAC) swept Simon Fraser University and Grand Canyon University on Saturday in the U of I Swim Center. The Vandals defeated the Clan 187-105 and they took down the Antelopes 175-125 for the program’s first WAC win of the year.
The tri-dual began with the honoring of Idaho’s 11 seniors, who ushered in a new era of success for the program. The team finished third at the WAC Championships in each of the past two years, tying the program’s best finish ever in both cases. Senior diver Janelle Lucas is a three-time conference champion and Leah Fisk was the conference champion in the 200-yard freestyle last year.
Both senior standouts made noise during the meet as well. Fisk soared through the 100 and 200-yard freestyles with times of 52.19 and 1:51.86, respectively. She has now won the 200-yard freestyle in five consecutive dual meets. Lucas won the 1-meter dive with a score of 305.75, good for the second-highest score in the event in program history.
“What’s exciting about Janelle’s performance is that 1-meter is her weakest board,” head coach Mark Sowa said in a news release. “As she gets higher up, she gets better and better. For her to figure out 1-meter like that, it just bodes well for the other two boards. I think she’s going to be in the mix on all three of them at WAC.”
Freshman Katie Hale should give Vandal fans plenty of hope for the future based on her performance Saturday. Hale led all Vandals with three victories on the day in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle.
Hale was also the leadoff in Idaho’s winning 200-yard medley relay, but the victory was secured by fellow freshman Natalie Crocker as the anchor.
“It was nice to send the seniors out with a couple wins,” Sowa said. “It was really good to see a couple of kids come around. It’s been a long three weeks and we saw some signs of life. I was very impressed with the energy and I think they did a good job of keeping the emotions in check.”
The Vandals will split the squad for next weekend’s Spring Lumberjack Diving Invite Feb. 1-2 in Flagstaff while the swimmers will travel to Oregon State Feb. 2.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker