COUGARS SET FOR 2024 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Washington State heads to Federal Way, Wash. for the 2024 Pac-12 Championships beginning Wednesday and running through Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The Pac-12 Conference Championships will be on the Pac-12 Networks, Pac-12 Now, and can be streamed through Pac-12.com or the swimming schedule page on wsucougars.com for the wsucougars.com for the link. 

COUGARS CRUISE TO ROAD WIN AT IDAHO TO CLOSE REGULAR SEASON
WSU followed up a win over Utah with a dominating 173-115 victory over Idaho in Moscow Feb. 3. The Cougars won 11 of the 14 swimming events including both relay events as sophomores Emily Lundgren and Dori Hathazi each won two races while sophomore Anna Rauchholz, senior Kiana Swain, sophomore Lauren Wille and freshman Ariel Wang each added wins.

WSU SETS TWO POOL RECORDS, BEATS UTAH FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2017
Washington State closed its Pac-12 Conference schedule with a dominating 145-117 win over visiting Utah at Gibb Pool Feb. 2. The Cougars claimed eight events and set two school records to beat the Utes for the first time since 2017. Sophomores Dori Hathazi and Emily Lundgren each won twice, sophomore Anna Rauchholz added a win, junior Emma Wright earned her first win at as a Coug and WSU claimed both relays.

COUGARS CLAIM THREE RACES AGAINST NO. 4 USC
WSU claimed three events in a dual with fourth-ranked USC at Gibb Pool Jan. 20. The Cougars saw sophomore Dori Hathazi win the 200 fly (1:59.93), sophomore Emily Lundgren claim the 200 breast (2:15.03) and freshman Ariel Wang pick up her first career victory after winning the 200 IM (2:04.60). 

LIEBZEIT NAMED WSU ACADEMIC STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
Josie Liebzeit was named the Academic Services Female Student-Athletes of the Month for November 2023. Liebzeit owns a 4.0 GPA while working towards a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in environmental science. The Lakewood, Calif. native has worked in the marine environmental physiology lab since January and was recently invited to be a WSU Undergraduate Research Scholar. Liebzeit has been named to the President's honor roll every semester at Washington State, is a two-time Pac-12 Conference Academic Honor Roll selection, finished sixth in the 1650 free at the Fresno State Invite in October and recently set a personal-best in the 100 fly and season-best times in the 1000 free, 1650 free and 400 IM at the Art Adamson Invite hosted by Texas A&M in November. 

COUGARS SET TOP MARKS AT ART ADAMSON INVITE AT TEXAS A&M
Washington State closed the Art Adamson Invite hosted by Texas A&M with 21 WSU Top-10 times, three school records and one win in late November. The Cougars finished sixth in a field that featured No. 23 UCLA, LSU, San Diego State, Utah, No. 25 Texas A&M and Houston.

WSU POSTS PAIR OF TOP-10 TIMES AT NO. 11 CAL
WSU posted a pair of Top-10 times and sophomore Dori Hathazi recorded her third win of the season in the dual meet at No. 11 California Oct. 27. The Cougars dropped the contest 179-81. Freshman Mira Szimcsak got things going with an impressive swim in the 1000 free, finishing third with a 10:10.77, the seventh-fastest time in program history. Hathazi tallied a win in the 200 fly for her ninth career victory before freshman Madison Parker added a pair of impressive times, finishing third in the 50 free and followed with a second-place finish in the 100 free with a 49.83, the tenth-fastest 100 free time in program history.

COUGS TALLY SIX WINS, BATTLE NO. 23 UCLA
WSU recorded six wins including three from freshman Madison Parker as the Cougars battled No. 23 UCLA at Gibb Pool October 13. The Cougars dropped a 153-109 decision to the Bruins while Parker led all swimmers with 27 points after posting wins in the 200 free, 50 free and 100 free. Fellow freshman Mira Szimcsak claimed the 500 free and finished second in the 1000 free, posting the eighth-fastest time in WSU history.  Sophomore Anna Rauchholz delivered with a big win in the 100 back, sophomore Emily Lundgren finished second in the 100 and 200 breast while senior Kiana Swain was second in the 200 back. The Cougars closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay, beating UCLA for the second straight week after winning the same event against the Bruins at the Fresno State Invite opening weekend. 

MIRA SZIMCSAK WINS BRONZE AT OPEN WATER CHAMPIONSHIPS
Freshman swimmer Mira Szimcsak helped her 4x1500 mixed relay team win the bronze medal at the 2024 Open Water World Championships earlier this month. Szimcsak qualified for the race after finishing second in the qualifying race last November. Szimcsak's 4x1500 mixed relay team was made of two male swimmers and two swimmers where she swam the second leg while battling competitors in 65-degree water. Following a tough start in the opening leg, Szimcsak was able to make up some ground for her team while battling both male and female swimmers along the way. A couple days prior, Szimcsak had competed in the in the individual race where she swam well but came in 26th place, a couple spots short of making the 2024 Olympics.



HARVEY, LUNDGREN SELECTED FOR 2023 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
Noelle Harvey and Emily Lundgren were selected to represent the United States this past summer at the World University Games in China. Harvey and Lundgren are among 18 athletes selected for the women's team to represent Team USA at The World University Games in Chengdu, China. 

COUGS TALLY SEVEN WINS, FINISH THIRD AT FRESNO STATE INVITE
Washington State opened their season finishing third at Fresno State Invite, closing the opening day with a win in the 800 free relay as Mira Szimcsak, Dori Hathazi, Angela Di Palo and Madison Parker posted the win nearly five seconds ahead of the second-place team. The Cougars dominated the 500 free, claiming four of the top six spots led by sophomore Dori Hathazi who earned WSU's first win of the season. In Saturday's eight events, the Cougars finished in the Top-3 seven times including wins in the 400 free relay, the 1650 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay. Freshman Mira Szimcsak later picked up her first collegiate win, claiming the 1650 free before Emily Lundgren won the 200 breast. In the 200 fly, Hathazi claimed the event with Sam Krew close behind in sixth. WSU closed the day with a win in the 400 free relay by Noelle Harvey, Krew, Hathazi and Parker.

COUGS IMPRESS IN THE CLASSROOM
Three Cougars earned CSCAA Scholar All-America accolades and as a team the Cougars also received Scholar All-America Team honors from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). Freshman Emily Lundgren was named to the Scholar All-America First Team while sophomore Noelle Harvey and freshman Anna Rauchholz each earned second team recognition. The Cougars posted a 3.48 team GPA in the spring semester to earn the team honor the fourteenth straight semester including all 10 under head coach Matt Leach and for the 24th time in program history. WSU's 3.48 team GPA featured seven 4.0 and 19 student-athletes with a 3.0 of better during the semester.

KAERSTEN MEITZ NAMED ASSISTANT COACH
Washington State Swimming added Kaersten Meitz as an assistant coach, Head Coach Matt Leach announced September 14. Meitz was a four-time All-American and four-time NCAA Championship qualifier while swimming at Purdue University. Meitz, who swam the freestyle events, also swam for the United States National Team (2017-19), won a pair of gold medals at the 2019 World University Games and twice competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials where she was a finalist. Meitz closed her Purdue career earning All-America honors in the 500 free and All-America Honorable Mention in the 1650 Free after finishing fifth in the 500 free and tenth in the mile at the NCAA Championships. Meitz will work with the Cougars' distance freestyle swimmers. Following her record-setting career with the Boilermakers, the Wisconsin native swam professionally in the International Swimming League before working in the corporate world and also with Professional Athlete where she spoke to age group swimmers on resiliency, mental toughness and time management. Since 2022, Meitz also volunteered on the USA Swimming Rules and Regulations Committee.

FRESHMEN DUO SELECTED TO 2023 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
For the first time in program history, two Washington State freshmen swimmers earned a trip to the NCAA Women's Swimming Championships last season in freshmen Dori Hathazi and Emily Lundgren. It was the first time a Cougar freshman swimmer  earned a trip to the NCAA Championships and is the first time multiple WSU swimmers were selected since three went in 2009. Washington State Head Coach Matt Leach has seen the Cougars have an NCAA participant in three straight seasons after Chloe Larson earned trips in 2020-21 and for the fourth time in the last five seasons after Mackenzie Duarte went in 2019. 

WSU CLOSED 2023 CSCAA NIC WITH 400 FREE RELAY TITLE
Washington State closed the 2023 CSCAA National Invitational as champions, breaking the WSU school record and added another top-10 time. The tetrad of Noelle Harvey, Kirsten de Goede, Selena Duran, and Angela di Palo won gold and set a new WSU record in the 400 free relays with a 3.17:39. The record the crew broke was previously set two weeks prior at the Pac-12 Championships. During the finals, Kiana Swain improved her 200 back time to remain fifth in WSU's all-time top-10 time at 1:57.54. During the morning preliminaries four Cougs made finalist times to return for evening sessions. Angela Di Palo had a standout swim and qualified second at 49.73 in the 100 free. Selena Duran Oritz maintained her momentum from yesterday and qualified eighth in the 100 free at 50.01. Noelle Harvey took the twelfth spot in the 200 back with a finalist time of 1:59.21. m

EMILY LUNDGREN PLACES THIRD, THREE WSU RECORDS FALL AT 2023 PAC-12'S
Freshman Emily Lundgren placed third in the 200 breast and the Cougars broke three school records on the final day of the Pac-12 Conference Championships. Lundgren started her day by placing fourth in the prelims before breaking her own school record in the 200 breast in the evening session with a 2:08.33. Lundgren was the first Cougar to medal at the conference championships since Chloe Larson won the 50 free in the 2021 championships.