If the level of competition displayed at the women’s swim team practice meet is any indication of the strength of the squad, Cougar swimming is primed for another big season behind Head Coach Erica Quam.

The intersquad meet, with a crimson and a gray team, came down to the final relay with the score tied at 92. In the end, the Crimson team of freshman Jessie Craig, senior Afton Pickett, sophomore Sierra Burton and junior Michaela Ahlin just slipped past their gray counterparts, winning the relay by 2.48 seconds and securing the meet for their team by a final score of 103-98.

Ahlin led the crimson squad with 18 points, but the overall point leader was Talor Whitaker of the gray with 22 points for her team.

Quam, in her seventh season as coach of the Cougars, was more than satisfied with the effort put forth by her swimmers as they competed against one another, she said.

“They looked good. We raced as a team on both sides and I was pleased with the overall effort to tie the meet going into the last relay. We want to get it down to the last relay to position ourselves to win the meet,” she said. With the last of the intersquad competitions complete, the two practice teams are looking to combine forces to take on other schools with a final destination of College Station, Texas for the NCAA Championship.

“We want to have a relay, make it to the NCAAs and get good times at the Pac-10 Tournament,” Ahlin said. Quam has the same goal for the team.

“I think we can get a relay into the NCAAs, which means we would get four individuals making the meet,” she said.

But there is still a long road and a tough schedule to get through before the postseason tournaments. While a good meet record is important, the team wants to peak right in time for the Pac-10 tournament.

“Getting off to a good start means rehearsing race routines and finding the best way to prepare for a race for each individual,” Quam said. “We train and work hard throughout the regular season and rest at the end of the season. We want our lifetime best times for the Pac-10 and NCAA tournaments.” Keeping the intensity up all season is a tall task, but there has been very little downtime for the Cougars as they had strict training requirements over the summer.

“We wanted them to keep training with their club teams and to compete in at least four competitions so they didn’t go February to October without racing,” Quam said. “Training to race and training for the sake of training are different.” Ahlin added to her training to make sure she was in the best possible shape when she returned to Pullman.

“I tried to keep up with the regular workouts. I also did a lot of running, weightlifting, and other cardio workouts to keep my fitness,” she said.

The Cougars start off the regular season Oct. 17-18, when they travel to Stockton, Calif. for the TYR Pacific Invitational.