Washington State University Wraps Up Dual Meet Season Against Oregon State

OREGON STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE: The Washington State University women’s swim team concludes its dual meet season this week with a pair of contests against Pac-10 rival Oregon State. The Cougars and Beavers will square off at Gibb Pool Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 2 at 11 a.m.

Oregon State boasts a seven game winning streak and 7-2 overall record coming into this week’s competition. The Beavers are coming off a 151-143 victory against Fresno State last Saturday, in which sophomore Birte Steven and junior Naya Higashijima won three events each. The Cougars, now 6-3 this season, hold a 24-10 advantage over OSU in the all-time series.

Right now, we’re facing the last dual meets of our season before Pac-10’s,” WSU sophomore Nicole Chinn said. “Our training has eased up in intensity, so we can just focus on getting in the water and swimming our hearts out.”

Against Oregon State we’re going to concentrate on swimming fast and racing strong, that’s what this week is all about,” WSU head coach Rocco Aceto said. “We need to prove to ourselves that we can race strong going into the Pac-10 Championships.”

With less than a month remaining before the championships, Aceto is beginning to zero in his team’s training to specifically focus on the championship meets.

Our weight room workouts have shifted from strength building to power production,” Aceto said. “In the pool we are working less on sheer volume and lap swimming, and more on a combination of when to swim fast and when to recover.”

NEXT COMPETITION: The Cougars take on their biggest competition of the season as they travel to Long Beach, Calif., for the Pac-10 Championships Feb.28-Mar. 2 at Belmont Plaza.

LAST COMPETITION: The Washington State University women’s swim team erased a 22-point deficit in the last four events of the day to defeat the University of Nevada 139-123, breaking two Gibb Pool on the day. Washington State trailed 105-83 after the 200 breaststroke, but won the final four events, including an impressive one-two-three finish in the 100 butterfly to take the lead 114-112. The meet still was not decided until the final event of the day, when the Cougar 400 freestyle relay team of Lindsay Henahan, Melissa Hubley, Rachel Dong and Andree-Anne LeRoy claimed victory in the race in a pool-record time of 3:29.19, assuring a WSU victory in the meet.

Co-captain Hubley led the Cougar effort, winning two events. The junior from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, won the both the 100 and 200 butterfly, clocking times of 56.82 and 2:04.02, respectively.

Another key for the Cougars was the performance of the sophomore LeRoy. As well as anchoring the 400 freestyle relay to victory, the native of Nanaimo, British Columbia swam on the victorious 200 medley relay, and won the 200 individual medley with a 2:08.51.

Washington State started off well, clocking a pool-record time of 1:45.34 and winning the 200 medley relay with the team of Nicole Chinn, Dong, Henahan and LeRoy.

Semah Zavareh, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, added another crucial victory for WSU with a mark of 5:06.46 in the 500 freestyle, and was followed by Jill Olson in second. That same Cougar pair swapped places in the 1,000 freestyle, with Olson, a junior from Seattle, winning the race, and Zavareh placing second.

COUGARS RANKED IN NATIONAL TOP 50: Washington State swimmers currently hold 14 individual marks ranked in the top 50 nationally by Taper and Shave’s College Quick 50. All five of the Cougar relays also rank in the NCAA top 25.

Rank Name Event Time
12 Rachel Dong 100 butterfly 54.75
13 Andree-Anne LeRoy 200 individual medley 2:01.73
15 Andree-Anne LeRoy 200 backstroke 1:59.64
17 Melissa Hubley 100 butterfly 54.92
28 Taryn Ternent 100 freestyle 50.44
28 Katie Byrnes 200 backstroke 2:01.23
29 Melissa Hubley 200 butterfly 2:01.33
32 Andree-Anne LeRoy 100 backstroke 56.23
34 Rachel Dong 100 breaststroke 1:03.54
36 Jill Olson 1,650 freestyle 16:56.31
38 Taryn Ternent 50 freestyle 23.42
38 Andree-Anne LeRoy 400 individual medley 4:21.67
39 Lindsay Henahan 100 butterfly 55.68
48 Katie Byrnes 100 backstroke 56.74

Rank Event Time
8 200 freestyle relay 1:32.82
Ternent, Dong, Henahan, LeRoy
9 400 freestyle relay 3:23.27
LeRoy, Hubley, Dong, Ternent
9 200 medley relay 1:42.33
Chinn, Dong, Henahan, Ternent
16 800 freestyle relay 7:27.57
LeRoy, Hubley, Cohen, Taylor
25 400 medley relay 3:47.97
Byrnes, Swanson, Hubley, Henahan

WSU EVENT WINNERS: Melissa Hubley won two individual events in the Cougars’ thrilling 139-123 victory over the Nevada to move into first place with most dual-meet wins (the figure in parenthesis represents wins as a relay team member).

1. Melissa Hubley 7 (2)
2. Andree-Anne LeRoy 6 (7)
3. Rachel Dong 4 (10)
3. Rebecca Cohen 4 (2)
3. Katie Byrnes 4 (1)
6. Semah Zavareh 3 (1)
6. Sasha Taylor 3
6. Jill Olson 3
9. Taryn Ternent 2 (5)
10. Lindsay Henahan 1 (10)
10. Christina Swanson 1
12. Nicole Chinn (5)
12. Sara Schmied (3)
12. Jadine Louw (1)

COACH ROCCO ACETO: Rocco Aceto is currently in his fifth year as head coach of the WSU women’s swim team. Under his direction, the Cougars have sent athletes to the NCAA Championships four years in a row, gained their first three-time NCAA All-American, garnered recognition as the second best swimming team in the nation for academics, eclipsed school records 38 times and established 101 positions in the WSU All-Time top 10 list in his four years with the team.

Prior to his appointment at WSU, Aceto served for two years as the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s swimming programs at Auburn University.

Originally from Portland, Maine, Aceto competed on the swim team at his alma mater, North Carolina State, establishing school and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) records in the 50 freestyle and 400 and 800 freestyle relays during his collegiate career.

2001-02 TEAM CAPTAINS: Among the 14 returning athletes for Washington State is a trio of talented captains, Rachel Dong, Melissa Hubley, and Taryn Ternent.

“When you put these three student-athletes together, learning to be leaders, I think we have a bright future for this team,” Aceto said.

Hubley, a junior from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, comes off a season in which she broke her own school record in the 200 butterfly while placing fifth at the Pac-10 Championships, qualified for the NCAA Championships, and received the team’s Most Outstanding Award. During the summer, she went on to win a gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2001 Canada Games.

Dong’s collegiate career got off to a fast start during her freshman year. The native of Paramount, Calif., broke the school record in the 100 butterfly and contributed to three relay teams setting WSU records at the 2001 Pac-10 Championships. Currently, she holds positions on seven Cougar top-10 lists for individual events. After the season, Dong received the team’s Most Improved Award and Coach’s Award.

Ternent also excelled in her first year as a Cougar. The sophomore from Edenvale, South Africa smashed the school record in the 50 freestyle en route to placing eighth at the Pac-10 Championships last season, and swam on two relay teams that set WSU records. In addition, Ternent owns places on three other school top-10 lists.

ATHLETES IN WSU RECORD BOOKS: Cougar swimmers currently hold 55 positions on WSU’s all-time top 10 lists for individual events, including 10 school records: Rachel Dong-100 fly (54.75 seconds), Melissa Hubley-200 fly (2:00.36), Andree-Anne LeRoy-200 IM (2:02.74), 400 IM (4:21.67), 100 back (56.34), 200 back (1:59.64), Jill Olson-1,000 free (10:12.96), 1,650 free (16:56.31), Taryn Ternent-50 free (23.26), 100 free (50.44). The following swimmers currently hold positions in WSU top 10 lists:
Andree-Anne LeRoy-200 IM (1st), 400 IM (1st), 100 back (1st), 200 back (1st), 100 free (3rd), 200 free (3rd)
Rachel Dong-100 fly (1st), 50 free (2nd), 100 breast (2nd), 200 breast (2nd), 200 IM (2nd), 100 free (5th)
Taryn Ternent-50 free (1st), 100 free (1st), 100 back (3rd), 100 fly (8th)
Jill Olson-1,650 free (1st), 1,000 freestyle (1st), 500 free (5th)
Melissa Hubley-200 fly (1st), 100 fly (2nd), 500 free (10th)
Rebecca Cohen-500 free (2nd), 200 free (4th), 1,650 freestyle (3rd), 1,000 freestyle (4th), 100 free (8th)
Katie Byrnes-200 back (2nd), 100 back (2nd), 400 IM (6th), 500 free (7th)
Sasha Taylor-200 free (2nd), 200 back (4th), 100 back (7th)
Lindsay Henahan-100 fly (3rd), 100 free (4th), 50 free (4th), 200 fly (7th)
Jadine Louw-500 free (3rd), 1,650 free (4th), 200 free (6th)
Semah Zavareh-500 free (4th), 1,650 free (5th), 1,000 free (8th)
Nicole Chinn-200 IM (5th), 100 fly (6th), 100 back (6th), 200 back (8th), 400 IM (10th)
Christina Swanson-100 breast (6th), 50 free (8th), 200 breast (10th)
Sara Schmied-50 free (7th), 100 free (7th)

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