By kyle paul
It is usually tough to look on the bright side of a 198-96 loss, but following the Vandal swim and dive team’s season-opening meet in Boise Saturday, coach Mark Sowa remains optimistic.
“Certainly we never enjoy a loss but we did see some very good racing from our athletes,” Sowa said.
Junior diver Paige Hunt was the only Vandal to finish first, winning the three-meter event with a 249.10. She also placed second in the one-meter event.
Sowa is excited about the dive team, both in the immediate future and down the road.
“On the boards today our divers were awesome,” he said. “Paige leading off the meet winning the three-meter shows us that she is going to be a force in this conference.”
Four other Vandals claimed runner-up finishes Saturday. Among them, junior Rachel Millet in the 200 free, and Erica Anderson in the 100 backstroke. Lyndsey Williams and Calleagh Brown also took second in the 200 breaststroke and 100 yard butterfly, respectively.
The Vandal relay teams fared well, taking third and then second in the races. The meet opened with the 200 medley relay, and Idaho’s Erica Anderson, Laura Griffing, Calleagh Brown and Katie Hendricks finished in 1:49.65 behind two Boise State teams. Idaho’s 400 freestyle team consisted of Rachel Millet, Katie Hendricks, Megan Venlos and Si Jia Pang finished a few seconds behind BSU’s top team.
Despite the loss to Boise State, the rest of the season looks bright for the Vandal swim and dive team. They have two weeks of practice before travelling to Seattle on Oct. 22 to face Seattle University and UC Davis.