WSU has had over a month off, but is set to head to Tucson, Arizona Friday to take on the Wildcats and the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks with a chance to rise in the Pac-12 standings.

The Cougars come into the meet with 1-2 overall record but 0-2 in conference as they are in search of their first conference victory. Arizona comes in at 2-3, also searching for their first conference win.

While Arizona is the most noteworthy opponent, NAU is not to be overlooked coming in at 6-0-1 in head-to-head competition. The Cougs defeated Arizona in last year’s meeting and hold a four-meet winning streak over NAU.

All eyes will be on the Cougar freshman swimmers Dori Hathazi and Emily Lundgren. Hathazi set her all-time top-10’s in the 100-fly at the Chick-Fil-A invite last fall and won the 200-fly. Lundgren has six career wins and remains undefeated in the 50-back this season. She also holds the sixth fastest 200 breast time in program history.

Aside from Hathazi and Lundgren, six other WSU swimmers competed at the U.S. Open, where the relay team took home gold. The six were Anna Rauchholz, Hailey Grotte, Alexandra Vartiainen, Angela Di Palo and team captain Noelle Harvey. 

Coming off a strong end to 2022, WSU is looking to start off 2023 on a high note with a chance to not only get a Pac-12 win, but also raise their overall meet record above .500.