THIS WEEK
Washington State travels to San Diego, Calif. to compete against San Diego State and Nevada Friday, Sept. 21 and San Diego Saturday, Sept. 22.
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ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
This will be the Cougars' second meeting with San Diego, with the Aztecs claiming a victory in the 2015-16 season. WSU will match up with Nevada for the 17th time in program history, the Cougars claimed a ten-point victory in the previous meeting coming in 2008. WSU has claimed two of three matchups against San Diego, the last coming in the 2015-16 season when the Cougars took home a victory.
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WORDS FROM COACH LEACH
"We're looking at this meet as a training weekend. This is just where we start, this isn't where we finish, and this is just the first step in a long process. As you look at San Diego State and Reno [Nevada], they're very talented squads - they're solid in the Mountain West Conference. I'm just going to be focused on our lanes and our Cougs to make sure that we're making the right progress for our next meets. I think it's important that we set that foundation early and that we keep talking about it because that's what we're going to feed off us as we go from our first dual meet all the way into the Pac-12s."
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LAST SEASON IN THE POOL
The Cougars recorded 63 lifetime-best performances last season and 20 WSU All-Time Top-10 times. The team was led by now-senior
Jasmine Margetts. Margetts posted 11 individual wins, including a win in the 200 Fly over No. 24 Arizona.
Clothilde Peseux and
Ryan Falk posted three individual wins during last year's season. Now-sophomores
Taylor McCoy,
Samantha Howell, and
Chloe Larson combined for three individual wins and three relay wins.
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EIGHT COUGARS JOIN THE ROSTER
Eight freshmen begin their rookie campaigns with the Cougars. The class is comprised of
Sophia Balmaceda (Fremont, Calif.),
Emily Barrier (Fort Collins, Colo.),
Payton Bokowy (Sandpoint, Idaho), Lauren Burkel (Albuquerque, N.M.),
Keiana Fountaine (Tracy, Calif.),
Paige Gardner (Walla Walla, Wash.),
Hailey Hyde (Bend, ore.), and
Olivia Tungate (Oak Harbor, Wash.).Â
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COUGARS TAB MATT LEACH AS NEW HEAD COACH
The Cougars welcomed
Matt Leach as head coach July, 2018. Leach joins WSU after spending the previous three years at Indiana State where he started the swimming and diving programs in 2015 and began competing in the 2016-17 season. In the program's second season, Leach was named the 2017-19 Missouri Valley Coach of the Year after guiding the sycamores to a 13-win campaign that featured 10-dual match win streak and a record-setting team performance at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships where ISU set school records in every event, highlighted by the program's first individual conference champion.
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COMING UP
The Cougars will travel to Fresno, Calif. Oct 5-6 to compete in the Chick-Fil-A Invite.
