The Barometer Online

Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ethan Erickson Junior Rachel Wahl and the Oregon State swim team were defeated 135-119 on Saturday by the University of Washington Huskies. Wahl finished in second to OSU senior Saori Haruguchi in the 100 butterfly and won the 400 IM with a time of 4:27.72.

Although the Huskies triumphed over the Oregon State swim team on Saturday, many swimmers had a record-setting day.

With several personal records set and a place in one of the schools all-time lists, the Beavers may have been down, but certainly not out of the competition.

"Washington's freestylers were really strong," head coach Larry Liebowitz said. "With no Brittany [Iverson] for the freestyle, it became much more of a burden for us. Overall though, our team performed really well and they fought really hard during the afternoon. I think our swimming was better than in Florida."

Highlights of the meet included Saori Haruguchi placing first in two events for the afternoon. She finished first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.36, and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:00.88. Haruguchi also finished second in the 100-yard backstroke.

"This year I am just focusing on striving for my personal best," Haruguchi said. "That pushes me every day, every practice and every race. I just try to do the very best I can."

Among those setting new personal records was sophomore Karri-Ann Benthin, who broke her old personal best in the 1,000-yard freestyle by more than a full second.

Kate Hagan secured a spot on the Oregon State all-times list in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:17.85, making her eighth on the list. Her teammate, Kayla Rawlings, took the ninth spot on the list just a week ago on Jan. 3 in Arizona, with a 10:21.77.

Another standout performance came from the Oregon State relay team of Rawlings, Keri Holmstrom, Agata Szewczuk and Jenni Dole, which finished the event in first place with a time of 3:37.11.

Rawlings continued to dominate the competition with her first place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:01.94. This makes it her eighth win of the season in that event. While competing in the 200-yard freestyle, Rawlings set a new season best time of 1:55.09. To round out a day of victory for the Canadian sophomore, she finished in fourth place in the 500 freestyle in 5:03.59.

Continued...

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