No. 22 BYU to host No. 24 Washington, and the women host Oregon State

PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's swimming teams will be back in action this week as each team plays host to different schools over the weekend. The BYU men will go head-to-head with No. 24 Washington University and the women will be facing off against Oregon State.

The contest will be the first home meet for the Cougars since their home opener against in-state rival Utah on Nov. 1, and only their second home meet of the season.

"Washington is a tough school," said men's head coach Tim Powers. "They are a strong all across the board."

BYU has not competed in more than four weeks. In their last meet, the Cougars won the Speedo Cup Invitational in Irvine, Cali., on Dec. 7.

"Washington competed during the holiday break and did not," said Powers. "We held workout instead, so hopefully we will be ready to go.

The Huskies competed in the New Year's Invitational on Jan. 3, where they claimed first place over seven other teams.

For the women, the Cougars will be swimming against the Beavers of Oregon State, a team they defeated BYU last season.

"We are going to have to swim hard to win," said women's head coach Stan Crump. "Oregon beat us last year, but this year we will have diving to help us out."

The Beavers bring a loaded roster with them as two of the swimmers, Naya Higashijima and Birte Steven, have already qualified for the NCAA Championships.

As with the men's team, the women have not competed since the Speedo Cup Invitational in December. "We have been training really hard this last week and throughout the Christmas break," said Crump.

Oregon is coming off of four dual meet wins on Dec. 20, 2002.

The men's and the women's meets will get underway in the Stephen L. Richards Building on Friday, Jan. 10, at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 11, at 11:00 a.m., respectively.