Washington State vs Seattle (Women’s Dual)
- Saturday, January 23rd, 2021
- Redhawk Center, Seattle, WA
- SCY (Short Course Yards)
- Results
Team Scores
- Washington State -160
- Seattle – 101
Washington State traveled to Seattle to face off against the Redhawks today, winning, and making it a perfect 9-0 record all-time against Seattle. The meet featured many Cougars swimming off-events (events they wouldn’t typically swim).
Washington State kicked off the meet with a 1:47.67 to win the 200 medley relay. Taylor McCoy led the Cougars off in 27.45, with Alexandra Vartianen posting a 30.62 breast split, Kaya Takashige clocking a 26.21 fly split, and Chloe Larson anchoring in 23.39.
Laron, who has been on fire for the Cougars this season, swam the 200 free, which is an off-event for her, as well as the 100 fly. In the 200 free, Larson finished 4th, well off her personal best, but she touched 1st in the 100 fly. Larson posted a 59.25 in the 100 fly, which was well off her personal best of 55.73 from last year’s Pac-12 Champs. She went on to lead-off the Cougars 200 free relay in a field-leading 23.62.
Taylor McCoy went on to win the 200 free with a 1:57.55, which was good to win the race by over 2 seconds. The swim came in significantly off McCoy’s season and personal best of 1:52.30, which she swam back in November. She then narrowly lost the 200 breast with a 2:25.16, coming in behind Seattle’s Danika Himes (2:24.99). The swim marked a personal best for McCoy by over 2 seconds. McCoy capped her meet with a win in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:09.58, which was the only time in the field under 2:12.
Washington State pulled a 1-2 finish in the 50 free, with freshman Kaya Takashige claiming victory in 25.05. Teammate Mikaela Kirton came in 2nd with a 25.34. Takashige’s swim was less than a second off her personal best of 24.15.
Seattle’s Alexa Hoeper swept the backstroke events. In the 100 back, Hoeper swam a 1:00.69, beating out WSU’s Paige Gardner by exactly a second. She went on to win the 200 back in 2:05.07, touching as the only swimmer in the field under 2:10.
Other event winners:
- 1000 free: Josie Liebzeit (WSU) – 10:50.15
- 100 breast: Hailey Grotte (WSU) – 1:07.02
- 200 fly: Jewel Springer (WSU) – 2:12.30
- 100 free: Emilia Culberson (Seattle) – 54.48
- 500 free: Cassie Koester (Seattle) – 5:17.23
PRESS RELEASE – WASHINGTON STATE:
SEATTLE (Jan. 23, 2021) – Washington State Women’s Swimming claimed eight races in route to a 160-101 win at Seattle University Saturday morning.
The Cougars (3-1) remained perfect in the all-time series with the Redhawks, posting their ninth straight win against SU. Senior Taylor McCoy recorded a pair of wins in the 200 free and 200 IM to push her season win total to a team-best six.
WSU opened with meet with a win in the 200 medley relay, freshman Josie Liebzeit followed with a win in the 1000 free, McCoy added a win in the 200 free and freshman Hailey Grotte won the 100 breast. A pair of underclassmen recorded their first collegiate wins as sophomore Jewel Springer won the 200 fly and freshman Kaya Takashige claimed the 50 free.
The Cougars closed the meet with three straight wins as McCoy won the 200 IM, senior Chloe Larson won the 100 fly and the 200 free relay team of Larson, Grotte, Emily Ward and Paige Gardner notched a win.
Washington State will close out the regular season hosting Idaho next Friday.
PRESS RELEASE – SEATTLE:
Just want to give a shout-out to SeattleU for having Men’s and Women’s D1 swim teams. Really disappointing to have no men’s team at WSU, and no swimming at UW. There is so much swimming talent in Washington State. Really hoping SeattleU continues to build! Thank you for supporting swimming!
2Fat, you are correct, it is great that SU has a men’s and women’s program. It’s good for the sport and good for the region. I do take issue, however, that SU is ‘continuing to build’. SU has been dead last in the conference for over a decade now. They aren’t building anything and will maintain last for the foreseeable future, unfortunately.