Women's Swimming and Diving | 02/24/2018

HOUSTON- Idaho junior Janelle Lucas secured her third consecutive WAC title in platform diving Saturday, and helped the Vandals finish third as a team at the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Houston. Lucas won the platform competition by nearly 40 points to become the first diver in conference history to win the platform event three straight years.
 
The Vandals battled all day with New Mexico State for the second position, but in the end the Aggies (601 points) edged out Idaho (585) by 16 points. Northern Arizona (810) won its fifth consecutive team championship. It is Idaho's third top-three finish at a conference championship in the 14 years since the program was reinstated, including each of the last two years and three of the last five.
 
"These girls were awesome all week," said head coach Mark Sowa. "It was a great battle, as always, with the Aggies. I couldn't be prouder or happier."
 
Idaho diving coach Jim Southerland was named WAC Co-Diving Coach of the Year after the Vandal divers accounted for 143 points throughout the week. All six Idaho divers scored and four of them advanced to at least one championship final.
 
On platform, Lucas qualified in third position but turned in a 271.35 in finals to win in a landslide. In each of her three title-winning performances, she has won the competition by at least 30 points. Teammate Emi Smith added an eighth-place finish for the Vandals, while Maren Seljevold (ninth) and Hailey Kessler (11th) finished at or near the top of the consolation final.
 
Leah Fisk rounded out her productive week with a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Fisk clocked a career-best time of 50.41, the sixth-fastest time in program history. Her bronze-medal showing is the best finish by a Vandal at a conference championship in the 100 freestyle since Rachel Millet won the event in 2014. Fisk scored 49 points in her individual races, fifth-most by a Vandal swimmer at a single conference championship in program history. Her three top-eight finishes marked the 11th time by the eighth different Vandal that an Idaho swimmer reached the championship final of three individual events at the same conference championship meet.
 
Fisk also anchored four of Idaho's relays, including the fourth-place 400-yard freestyle relay team Saturday. Her anchor leg of 49.93 was the fastest split in the entire field.
 
Sarah Hall notched the second-fastest 1650-yard freestyle in school history, finishing eighth in 17:00.41. Hall was joined in the top 16 by teammates Brianna Lucien (10th), Emma Schlyter (13th) and Delaney Boulo (16th). Lucien's time of 17:05.74 ranks fourth all-time at Idaho, while Schlyter's 17:18.43 is good for No. 11.
 
Five Vandals scored in the 200-yard breaststroke, led by Cara Jernigan's fifth-place effort. Jernigan became the second Vandal since the program was reinstated to finish in the top eight of the same event at each of her four conference championship meet appearances. She joins Rachel Millet, who swam in the championship final of the 200-yard freestyle at the WAC Championships from 2012 through 2015.
 
Aimee Iwamoto (ninth), Delaney Boulo (11th), Cassie Dallas (13th) and Lauren Votava (16th) all collected points in the 200 breaststroke.
 
Emily Kliewer took eighth in the 200-yard butterfly, while Alexandria Magrino was Idaho's top finisher in the 200-yard backstroke in 10th.
 
Next up for the Vandals is the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, March 5-6, in Flagstaff, Ariz. Idaho will be represented by Heather Carbon, Hailey Kessler, Janelle Lucas, Maren Seljevold, Emi Smith and Indiya Williams. The NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships are set for March 14-17, in Columbus, Ohio.