Swimming Hosts Utah, Treks to Arizona to Open 2016
January 06, 2016 | Women's Swimming
CORVALLIS, Ore. – After closing the first half of the season with some of the top times in program history, the Oregon State swimming team is set to open the second half of its 2015-16 campaign with a home meet at Osborn Aquatic Center and an away meet at Arizona this week.
Oregon State is slated to host Utah on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT in a Pac-12 dual meet at the Osborn Aquatic Center. Following the meet, the Beavers will travel to Tucson, Ariz. to compete against Arizona, Northern Arizona and New Mexico State on Friday at 11 a.m. PT at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
Oregon State carries the momentum of a 2015 half of the season that saw the Beavers record 19 times within the program's all-time top-10 bests across various events. Contributing to the 19 times were seven different OSU swimmers, including Sammy Harrison (7 top-10 times in 2015), Amani Amr (4), Czsarina Isleta (3), Corrine Shigeta (2), Anni Hecker (1) and Sophie MacEwan (1).
A fast 2015 culminated in opportunities for each of Harrison and Isleta at the U.S. Winter Nationals in Federal Way, Wash. While neither achieved qualifying times for the 2016 Olympic Games, each produced solid showings against the nation's best, including a 29th-place finish by Harrison in the 800-meter freestyle (9:04.57).
“We didn't get what we wanted as far as finishes out of that meet, but what we did get was valuable experience,” Oregon State head coach Larry Liebowitz said. “We raised the bar with our performances in 2015. We're faster right now than we we're at the Pac-12 Championships last year. In swimming when you raise the bar, you have to raise the level of training and intensity to continue to get better.”
Utah enters its 2016 stretch having competed most recently at the Art Adamson Invitational from Nov. 19-21 in College Station, Texas, where the Utes finished fifth. Prior to that, the Utes recorded a pair of dual meet wins over UNLV (179-120) and UC-Davis (171-125). Last season, Utah placed sixth at the Pac-12 Championships.
The Beavers' other Pac-12 opponent for the week is Arizona, which has defeated UNLV (198-94), Washington State (182-98) and UCLA (160-140) in dual meets thus far this season. The Wildcats have only dropped one dual meet thus far this season, falling 156-144 to USC.
“We have the right group of athletes that get along well with each other,” Liebowitz said. “Our successes this year can be attributed to a combination of the right attitudes and the right cohesiveness. It's been fun and a real pleasure to work with this team this year.”
Following this week's action, the Oregon State swimming team returns to the pool on Saturday, Jan. 16 for a home meet vs. Willamette and SWOCC. The meet is slated for a noon PT start at the Dixon Recreation Center.
Players Mentioned
