San Antonio- The University of Idaho Swimming and Diving team toppled two more school records Thursday in the second day of competition at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, which set the total at four for the week.
The Vandal 200-yard freestyle relay team shattered the school record by more than a second and a half with its time of 1:33.46, to earn fourth place in an event where third and second place were separated by less than two-tenths of a second. Sophomore Alyson O'Brien swam a 23.10 in the third leg of the race to pull the Vandals into second place. Si Jia Pang hit the water for the anchor leg and held the pace of Elliko Heimbach of Hawai'I, who won the 50-yard freestyle earlier in the day, but she couldn't close the gap in the tight race.
“We were the only team without a person in the 50-yard freestyle finals that had a shot to win the relay, so it shows they're Vandals and may be out-gunned in some races, but they always show up to fight ,” head coach Tom Jager said.
Sophomore Staci Stratton led off the 200-yard freestyle relay to be part of the record setting performance shortly after setting the school record in the 50-yard freestyle. Her performance clocked in nearly a second faster than her previous season best time of 24.56, which was largely because of her desire Jager said.
“The last two meets of the year she didn't even make our sprint-relay teams, but she kept believing in herself and kept driving, and when you do that, good things happen,” Jager said.
Alyson O'Brien was another Vandal to show her best stuff at the end of the season, when she submitted a lifetime best in the 50-yard freestyle of 23.86 and finished three places behind Stratton. Many other Vandals also had lifetime bests on the day because the WAC Championships are what the team trains for all year, Jager said.
“They work hard and they wait all year for this meet, so they're out here having a good time and they're loose, so it's good to see them swimming well,” Jager said.
The Vandals head into the third day of action Friday in eighth place in the championships with 87 points. Final events start at 4:30 p.m. (PST).
