Women's Swimming and Diving | 02/28/2019

HOUSTON – Idaho used a pair of historic swims and another strong day of diving Thursday at the Western Athletic Conference Championships to stay in contention for the best team finish in program history at a conference meet.
 
The team standings tightened Thursday, and Idaho now sits in third with 197 points. The Vandals are 12.5 points behind second-place Northern Colorado, one point ahead of fourth-place New Mexico State and eight points clear of Cal Baptist in fifth. Five-time defending champion Northern Arizona leads the competition with 321.5 points.
 
"I'm really happy with where we are," said head coach Mark Sowa. "We did a lot of really good things today. We're in a tight meet and tomorrow is a good day for us. There can be some separation and, if we come out swinging, I like where we can be."
 
Nikki Imanaka and Janelle Lucas each finished in the top seven in one-meter diving, while Heather Carbon took 15th. Imanaka scored 279.90 to earn her best finish on any board at a conference championship meet. Lucas grabbed her seventh career top-eight finish at conference and will eye her eighth Friday, when she looks to become the first four-time champion on the platform in WAC history.
 
Leah Fisk took the field out fast in the 500-yard freestyle and held on for a fourth-place finish in 4:54.57. The fourth-place effort is the best finish by a Vandal in the 500 freestyle at a WAC Championship and the time was five one-hundredths of a second off of Fisk's own school record.
 
Katie Hale became the first Vandal to record a top-eight finish in the 50-yard freestyle since 2015 when she took fourth with a 23.22 in the championship final. Hale qualified for the finals with a 23.19 in prelims – the fastest 50 freestyle by a freshman in school history and the fourth-fastest time overall.
 
Hale and Fisk bookended the 200-yard freestyle relay, helping Idaho post its fastest time in five years and the third fastest in program history at 1:33.36 to take sixth. Hale's 23.30 is Idaho's all-time fastest leadoff leg in the event.
 
Freshman Natalie Crocker swam the second leg of the relay team and returned to score in the 50 freestyle consolation final. Crocker improved her time from prelims by nearly two-tenths of a second, touching the wall at 23.54 to take third in the heat and 11th overall.
 
Sarah Hall and Brianna Lucien also contributed to Idaho's scoring effort, competing in the 500 freestyle. Hall held her place from prelims, finishing fourth in the consolation final to take 12th. Lucien improved upon prelims, clocking a 5:01.54 to move up one spot and finish sixth in the heat.
 
Emily Kliewer picked up Idaho's lone scoring swim in the 200-yard individual medley, placing 16th. Kliewer will return tomorrow in the 100-yard butterfly, looking to make history. The senior has finished fifth or better in the event in each of her previous three conference championships and is looking to become the third Vandal swimmer to make the championship final of the same event four times.
 
A trio of Vandals took advantage of earning a second swim Thursday, in bonus finals. Aimee Iwamoto (200 individual medley; 2:06.82), Katy Older (200 individual medley; 2:08.57) and Emily Deitz (50 freestyle; 23.98) all clocked career bests during the evening session.
 
The meet continues Friday, with prelims beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT and finals taking place at 6 p.m. CT. The third-day event lineup features platform diving, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay. Follow the WAC meet at Championship Central and by following @VandalSwim_Dive on Twitter.