WSU had a successful two-day meet this past weekend in California. The team came in fourth overall behind three very skilled teams. 

The Cougars sit behind the University of California, UCLA and San Jose State University. 

A big reason that the team placed fourth was their lack of a diving team. Without a diving team, the swimmers lost out on a lot of points that could have put them higher in the rankings.

“We are sitting fourth, behind two impressive Pac-12 conference teams and the defending Mountain West champions but today was one of our stronger swims as a team and I’m excited to see how we respond to an important session tomorrow,” head coach Matt Leach said. “We’ve done a good job in preparing and executing a plan so far and I’m excited to see our student-athletes continue to improve and be hungry to race.”

One of WSU’s first wins of the meet was with freshman Dori Hathazi who came in first for her 200-yard butterfly. Hathazi currently holds the Gibb pool record for the 200-yard butterfly with a time under 2 minutes. 

There were many incredible swimmers at this meet many of whom placed high in their races. freshman Emily Lundgren took second in her 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Josie Liebzeit placed fifth in her 1650-yard freestyle. Noelle Harvey, Angela Di Palo and Kirsten de Goede, placed third together in the 400-Yard freestyle relay earning good points for the team.

Even though the team does not have a diving squad, WSU is looking promising for their season.