No. 23 UCLA Drowned by the Cougars

By Taegan Whiteley

PULLMAN – This was an extremely inspiring weekend for the Washington State women’s swim team. The Cougars defeated No. 23 UCLA 143-119 at Gibb Pool on Saturday, October 29. This is the first meet in school history that the Cougars beat the Bruins, as WSU swam away with top finishes in 10 out of the 14 events.

The Cougars started the meet off by grabbing a win in the 200-medley relay. The team consisted of junior Hannah Bruggman, freshman Angela Mavrantza; junior Anna Brolin, and senior Haley Rose Love. The team broke its personal record and clocked a time of 1:43.28; the fastest they have swam this season.

Sophomore Jasmine Margetts carried the team on her back and contributed 27 points to the Cougars. She had wins in the 100 back (56.67), 200 back (2:01.77) and 400 Individual Medley (4:24.16). Freshman Ryan Falk continued to stun fans and coaches with her wins. This weekend, Falk took first in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.29, and later she grabbed another win, finishing her 500 free at 4:58.36. With Falk’s wins, she helped add 18 points to WSU’s score. Mavrantza had a notable win in the 100-breast stroke, just out-touching UCLA’s Emma Schanz by just .28 seconds.

The Cougars continued racking up points throughout the meet and finished out strong in the 400 free relay. Washington State’s ‘A’ quartet of Bruggman, Rose Love, sophomore Penny Nichols and Falk placed second with a time of 3:27.64, and were out-touched by one second by UCLA. Washington State’s ‘B’ relay team, which consisted of senior Anna Rosen, junior Rachel Thompson, sophomore Ciera Kelly and senior Hailey Johnson, followed with a time of 3:31.93.

The Washington State women’s swim team returns to Gibb Pool Thursday, November 3 to swim against Northern Arizona at 5 p.m.