Oregon State
Washington St
OSU Beats Cougars Again, Finishes Season 7-3
February 05, 2000 | Women's Swimming
Feb. 5, 2000
PULLMAN, Wash. - - Led by Junior Arianna Higuera and Freshman Naya Higashijima, Oregon State beat Washington State for the second time in two days in Pacific-10 women's swimming action on Saturday morning in Pullman. The 118-85 dual-meet win at Gibb Pool meant the Beavers wrapped up the regular season with their highest win total since 1991, with seven wins and only three losses.
"It was awesome," said OSU Head Coach Mariusz Podkoscielny of the win. "It was a great team effort, and the girls came out fired up. We're extremely happy."
After losing the first race, the Beavers went on to win the next four races, and seven of 11 overall. Higashijima moved into fifth-place, ahead of teammate Amy Imwalle, on the OSU Top-10 list in the 200 freestyle with a time of one-minute, 55.05 seconds. Higashijima also added wins in the 1,650 freestyle and 500 freestyle to go along with Higuera's victories in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Freshman Paula Finlay won the 200 individual medley for OSU (7-3 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10), and swam the third leg in the Beaver's winning 400 freestyle relay team that also featured Higuera, Bonnie Renwick, and Trista Hedlind.
"It was a team effort from A-Z," Podkoscielny said. "We were more excited than they were in and out of the water."
For only the third meet this season, the Beavers did not set a school record in at least one event. Until Friday's dual meet against the Cougars (1-11, 0-5), OSU had set new records in seven of eight meets, with a total of 14 records in eight different events. This weekend was also the first time the Beavers had competed on back-to-back days since they took third at the Speedo Cup on Dec. 2-4.
"We were really into the meet as a team," said Podkoscielny. "The emphasis was to win the race rather than on individual times."
With her three wins Saturday, Higashijima upped her team-leading victory total to 21. Finlay finished second with 15, while Magda Modelska and Higuera won seven apiece on the season. Also with at least one victory this year for the Beavers were Sheila Tehranchi, Kyla Bond, Amy Imwalle, Jill McMinn, and Bonnie Renwick.
OSU snapped a 17-meet losing streak to the Cougars with their two wins this weekend in a series that dates back to 1977. Oregon State has swam more dual meets against Washington State than against any other team.
The Beavers now have two weekends without competition before they travel to Long Beach, California for the Pac-10 Championships Feb. 24-26. OSU's best finish at the Pac-10s was second (three times), most recently in 1983.
Said Podkoscielny, "We're definitely looking forward to the Pac-10s."
RESULTS
OREGON STATE 118, WASHINGTON STATE 85
400 MEDLEY RELAY - 1. WSU (Miedema, Eldridge, Hubley, S. Schmied), 3:54.23, 2. OSU (Starkey, Tehranchi, Martinec, Buckley), 4:05.83, 3. OSU (Bond, Severance, Pendergast, Stoddard), 4:14.28 (DQ). 1,650 FREESTYLE - 1. Naya Higashijima, OSU, 17:39.23, 2. Jill Olson, WSU, 17:44.54, 3. Gretchen Chambers, WSU, 17:56.80, 4. Amy Imwalle, OSU, 18:21.75, 5. Jill McMinn, OSU, 18:53.63. 200 FREESTYLE - 1. Naya Higashijima, OSU, 1:55.05, 2. Lindsay Henahan, WSU, 1:57.53, 3. Rebecca Cohen, WSU, 1:57.61, 4. Trista Hedlind, OSU, 1:57.91, 5. Melissa Hsieh, OSU, 1:58.30, 6. Melissa Hubley, WSU, 1:59.20, 7. Erin Buckley, OSU, 2:02.15. 50 FREESTYLE - 1. Arianna Higuera, OSU, 24.57, 2. Bonnie Renwick, OSU, 25.07, 3. Sara Schmied, WSU, 25.19, 4. Suzanne Broda, OSU, 25.50, 5. Suzanne Starkey, OSU, 25.66. 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY - 1. Paula Finlay, OSU, 2:09.39, 2. Magda Modelska, OSU, 2:11.39, 3. Kelley Miedema, WSU, 2:11.75, 4. Erin Eldridge, WSU, 2:14.14, 5. Rachelle Carano, WSU, 2:15.36, 6. Maureen Pendergast, OSU, 2:20.08, 7. Kyla Bond, OSU, 2:21.00. 200 BUTTERFLY - 1. Melissa Hubley, WSU, 2:05.87, 2. Rachelle Carano, WSU, 2:13.61, 3. Melissa Hsieh, OSU, 2:13.76, 4. Kristen Martinec, OSU, 2:14.54, 5. Jill McMinn, OSU, 2:14.92. 100 FREESTYLE - 1. Arianna Higuera, OSU, 53.40, 2. Lindsay Henahan, WSU, 53.57, 3. Bonnie Renwick, OSU, 53.90, 4. Trista Hedlind, OSU, 54.51, 5. Sara Schmied, WSU, 54.89, 6. Suzanne Broda, OSU, 55.70. 200 BACKSTROKE - 1. Kelley Miedema, WSU, 2:06.29, 2. Magda Modelska, OSU, 2:09.62, 3. Paula Finlay, OSU, 2:10.07, 4. Eli Schmied, WSU, 2:13.07, 5. Suzanne Starkey, OSU, 2:13.36, 6. Kyla Bond, OSU, 2:17.97, 7. Suzie Muirhead, WSU, 2:50.38. 500 FREESTYLE - 1. Naya Higashijima, OSU, 5:06.47, 2. Gretchen Chambers, WSU, 5:14.11, 3. Rebecca Cohen, WSU, 5:17.87, 4. Amy Imwalle, OSU, 5:18.21, 5. Jill Olson, WSU, 5:20.70, 6. Jill McMinn, OSU, 5:21.71, 7. Dana Stoddard, OSU, 5:30.72. 200 BREASTSTROKE - 1. Erin Eldridge, WSU, 2:18.16, 2. Kristen Severance, OSU, 2:26.77, 3. Shiela Tehranchi, OSU, 2:27.74, 4. Maureen Pendergast, OSU, 2:34.50, 5. Eli Schmied, WSU, 2:47.75. 400 FREESTYLE RELAY - 1. OSU (Higuera, Renwick, Finlay, Hidlind), 3:35.30, 2. WSU (Henahan, Chambers, Cohen, Carano), 3:37.67, 3. OSU (Buckley, Broda, Hsieh, Modelska), 3:40.90, 4. OSU (Martinec, Severance, Imwalle, Stoddaard), 3:58.26.
