The Wildcats traveled to Federal Way, Washington for the 69th Annual Husky Invitational over the weekend.

The Husky Invitational consisted of every event that will be at conference, and it included an array of club teams from the Northwest, division I schools, other division III and NAIA schools, and even teams from Canada.

Even though swimming is an individual sport, the Wildcats are still a team and supported each other as their goals were set on beating their personal best times this weekend.

“We were looking forward to racing competition outside of the conference,” said junior Evette Dow, one of the women’s team captains. “We need to keep up the hard work and work together and use each other to push through to conference.”

Dow placed 13th with a time of 2:05.42 minutes for the women’s 200-yard-back, along with Kaedi Fry who placed 20th with a time of 2:04.97 minutes.

Dow was one of many to represent the Wildcats in finals this weekend. Three Wildcat men placed top 16 in the 200-yard backstroke Sunday night. Freshman Daisuke Fitial placed 7th with a time of 1:52.49 minutes, junior Neirton Oliveria placed ninth with a time of 1:51.19 minutes, and sophomore Noah Cutting placed 10th with a time of 1:51.43 minutes.

According to the USA Swimming Rulebook, even though Cutting, Oliveria and Fry swam faster than their teammates Dow and Fitial in the finals, the individuals can’t place higher than other swimmers in previous heats even when their times are faster in the finals.

“Racing was super fun and exciting especially because I got to race lots of people that were much faster and more experienced than me,” said Fitial.

Trevor Gourley also represented the Wildcats in the finals Sunday night. He swam the 100-yard freestyle placing 13th with a time of 46.99 seconds.

“This meet helped prepare me for conference by showing where I need to improve on. It showed that I am right ton my best times,” said junior David Flores who is one of the men’s team captions.

Like Dow, Flores said that the team needs to keep up the hard work and be able to push through as a team to get to where they need to be at conference.

The Wildcats will be taking a long-needed break, as their next meet won’t be until Jan. 19 at Pacific University.