9 Washington State Swimmers Post Season Bests In Win Over NAU

Washington State vs Northern Arizona (women’s meet)

• Friday, November 2nd
• Pullman, WA
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. Washington State – 135
2. Northern Arizona – 126

Washington State downed Northern Arizona in a tight battle, where they won 10 of 14 events. The Cougars’ effort was led by season best efforts by 9 swimmers. WSU freshman Keiana Fountaine continued to post team-leading time for the Cougars. Fountaine won the 100 free with a 51.08, marking not only her fastest time this season, but her lifetime best as well. She also came in 2nd in the 50 free, with a season best performance of 24.02. NAU’s Elisa Rodriguez won the 50 free with a 23.65. She then came in 2nd in the 100 with a 51.39. Fountaine swam a 59.66 in the 100, swimming exhibition, and touching in another season-best time. She capped off her meet with a 52.14 lead-off split in the 400 free relay.

Taylor McCoy took the 100 back in a season best 58.14. McCoy, a true 200 backstroker, went on to win the 200 back in a 2:02.74. That time came in about a second off her season best. McCoy also won the 200 IM, swimming a 2:07.36 to touch 3 seconds ahead of the competition. McCoy is Washington State’s only swimmer currently ranked in the top 10 in the Pac-12. Her season best 2:01.86 200 back is currently ranked 10th.

Mackenzie Duarte took the 200 breast with a 2:19.12, which was her season best until she went 2:17.71 the day after.

Other Event Winners

• 1000 free: Ryan Falk (WSU) – 10:24.86
• 200 free: Monique King (NAU) – 1:52.36
• 100 breast: Elsa Lindberg (WSU) – 1:04.91
• 200 fly: Andrea Schmidt (NAU) – 2:05.31
• 500 free: Monique King (NAU) – 4:58.63
• 100 fly: Sophia Balmaceda (WSU) – 56.76
• 200 medley relay: WSU – 1:47.17
• 400 free relay: WSU – 3:33.25

PRESS RELEASE – WASHINGTON STATE:

PULLMAN, WASH. – The Washington State swim team won their third dual meet of the season after defeating Northern Arizona, 135-126. The Cougars won eight individual events and both relays, while nine Cougars notched season best times.

Sophomore Taylor McCoy led the way for the Cougars with three individual wins over the Lumberjacks. The Pullman, Wash. native won both backstrokes after posting a season-best 58.14 in the 100 back. McCoy also hit a season-best time in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:07.36 for first place. Alongside teammates Linnea Lindberg, Emily Barrier, and Chloe Larson, McCoy swam the opening leg of the first-place 200 medley relay team. The team finished three-hundredths of a second ahead of Northern Arizona in the event.

Junior Ryan Falk also swam well for the Cougars, garnering 14 individual points. The Portland, Ore. native swam to a first place finish in the 1000 free, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of Sam Milewski from NAU. Falk swam anchor in the first place 400 free relay team. Alongside teammates Keiana Foutaine, Luci Brock, and Paige Gardner, the team touched the wall over two seconds ahead of NAU. Falk also placed second in the 500 free and fifth in the 200 fly.

Freshman Keiana Fountaine continues to have outstanding performances for the Cougars, garnering four top-five finishes. Fountaine swam a season-best 24.02 in the 50 free for second place, before turning around and winning the 100 free with a 51.08, another season best. The Tracy, Calif. native also finished fourth in the 100 fly and was a member of the winning 400 free relay team.

Senior Linnea Lindberg, sophomore Mackenzie Duarte. and freshman Sophia Balmaceda each notched a win in their individual events. Lindberg took first in the 100 breast. Duarte notched a season-best time in both the 100 and 200 breast. The Walnut Creek, Calif. native touched the wall in 2:19.12 in the 200 breast for first place. Lauren Burckel and Lindberg placed second and third, respectively, in the event. Balamaceda, a freshman from Freemont, Calif., took away a win in the 100 fly, clocking in a season-best 56.76.

The Cougars are looking to carry the energy into their meet against No. 5 California Saturday at 10 a.m. The meet will be streamed live on wsucougars.com.

PRESS RELEASE – NORTHERN ARIZONA:

PULLMAN, Wash. (November 2, 2018) –  The Northern Arizona swimming and diving team fell to Washington State on Nov. 2 in Pullman, Wash. This marked the second straight loss of the season for the Lumberjacks. The final score of the meet was 135-126. The meet was made up of only swimming events as the Cougars don’t have a diving team.

“I saw big improvements in many of the times today compared to last week, and I just want the team to keep improving every week,” NAU head swimming coach Andy Johns said.

The ‘Jacks were able to take the top spot in four of the 11 events in the meet, with the most success coming from Monique King in the freestyle events. King recorded 18 of the 126 points for NAU while the next closest Lumberjack was Andrea Schmidt.

NAU started off the meet in a hole after Washington State took five of the first six events. The lone Lumberjack win came from King in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.36. This time was almost three seconds faster than the next closest opponent.

Northern Arizona started to close the gap on the Cougars created in the sixth event when the team took 16 of the 19 points in the event. The ‘Jacks placed three swimmers in the top three in the event with Schmidt in first, Keeley Vardeman in second and Maddie Seidl in third. This win marked the first win of the 2018-19 season for Schmidt who finished the 200 butterfly with the time of 2:05.31.

The ‘Jacks continued to gain ground on WSU in the 50 freestyle when Elisa Rodriguez took the top spot and the nine points in the event. Following the event, Northern Arizona trailed Washington State by only five with a score of 68-63.

“After the break only being down by five points was big as there were multiple races that we only lost by a hundredth of a second,” Johns said.  “If those races went the other way, the outcome of today would have been different.”

Unfortunately, this was the closest that Northern Arizona would get to the lead as the Cougars would go on to win three of the next four events. The Lumberjacks’ last win came in event 11, the 500 freestyle, where King took home her second win of the day. King finished the race with a time of 4:58.63, a whole six seconds faster than the second-place finish from the Washington State swimmer.

“We were pretty tough today, but we need to get even tougher moving forward, especially going into tomorrow’s meet,” Johns said.

Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will be back in action tomorrow, Nov. 3, in Moscow, Idaho in a double dual against the University of Idaho and Seattle University at 10:30 a.m. MST. This will be a big meet for the Lumberjacks as both opponents are Western Athletic Conference foes.