Team Culture Paying Off Well for Cougar Swimming

Saturday, October 6

Fresno, CA

All Day

Washington State University

Chick-Fil-A Invite

October 06, 2018 | Swimming

Chick-Fil-A Invite Final Results

By: Athletic Communications

FRESNO, CALIF. – The Washington State swimming team placed fourth with 380 points at the Chick-Fil-A Invite hosted by Fresno State. The Cougars completed the meet with 25 top-20 finishes, and seven top-five finishes.

"We did really well today, it shows that the process is working" said head coach Matt Leach. "I think we really focused on execution and we saw some smart races. As far as trying to work better turns under water, we are continuing to sharpen up and get better. For us, it's trying to put together smarter races. We're trying not to look at an overall outcome, we're trying to look at the process; and I think we are really starting to execute well."

Junior Ryan Falk had an impressive showing in the 1650. The distance freestyler posted a 17:29.17 in the event to take second, her time was nearly 20 seconds faster than the third place finisher from Fresno State. Also swimming well in the event was sophomore Sam Howell. Howell touched the wall in 17:57.52 to secure a sixth place finish.

Garnering her fourth individual top-five finish of the season, freshman Keiana Fountaine continued to impress. The Tracy, Calif. native secured a third place finish in the 200 free the first day of the invite, touching the wall in 1:50.87. The sprinter garnered her second top-five finish of the invite in the 100 free, clocking in at 51.66, less than a second from etching her name in the WSU All-Time Top-Ten.

Also seeing a top-five finish was senior Jasmine Margetts. Margetts clocked a 2:04.30 in the 200 fly for fifth place, less than a second behind fourth place Elise Garcia from California. Margetts was also a member of a top-10 400 free relay team. Alongside teammates Sophia Balmaceda, Payton Bokowy, and Emily Barrier, the team clocked a 3:36.93 for ninth place.

"From the team culture standpoint, I feel like we're getting better" said Leach. "We ended the meet on a great note with executing. Great job by everybody, we're excited to continue to grow. From here, we battle back to take on Stanford. We're looking forward to continue to get better once we get back in the pool on Monday and revisit all of the fundamentals. Go Cougs!"

The Cougars will see competition again Friday, Oct. 12 when they welcome reigning national champions Stanford to Gibb Pool in Pullman, Wash. The meet is set to begin at 2 p.m.