Vandal swim and dive falls in opening meet of season
In-state rival Boise State outswam Idaho in the Vandals’ opening swim and dive meet of the season Saturday at the UI Swim Center.
Jose Bendeck | Argonaut
Jamie Sterbis wins the 200 fly competition Saturday against BSU.
The Broncos beat the Vandals 211-89, winning 14 of the 16 events in the meet. The win was Boise State’s seventh straight over Idaho.
“We love racing great teams and they are a great team,” Idaho coach Mark Sowa said. “We are very competitive, but we have to be better at executing our skills. We need to be better at understanding the race plan and finish races. To compete against a team with that caliber, you have to bring it all.”
The two events Idaho won were the 200-yard butterfly and the 200 backstroke. Junior Jamie Sterbis was the first Vandal to win an event, winning the 200 butterfly in 2 minutes, 4.56 seconds. The other Vandal to win was senior Rachel Millet in the 200 backstroke in 2:4.36.
“We had a chance to win a couple close races that didn’t go our way today, but it’s still early in the season,” Sowa said. “Our times are faster than they were at this time last year, so there are some positive to come out of this.”
Coming into the season, Idaho returned 18 swimmers and two divers from last year’s team that finished second in the WAC. Idaho’s top returner is Millet, the 2013-14 WAC Swimmer of the Year.
Jose Bendeck | Argonaut
Delaney Peugh made personal best in both 1 and 3 meter diving competition Saturday.
“Rachel doesn’t need to be more motivated than she already is,” Sowa said prior to the season. “Every day she comes in and is thoughtful about her approach. She wants to leave the program better than when she came in.”
Sterbis is also a returning WAC Champion for Idaho. She won both the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly at the WAC meet and holds the school record in both events.
The Vandals hit the pool again on Oct. 31 at Northern Colorado. Nov. 7, they return to the UI Swim Center for a meet against Northern Arizona.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]