Wednesday marked the first day of the Pac-12 Championships for the WSU swim team. The Cougars had a solid start for the first day of the tournament and displayed what they are looking for in this competition.

Head Coach Matt Leach is excited to see what his young team can do throughout the rest of the week.

“I’m excited with the start,” Leach said. “Obviously we’re determined to get better as we go. Hopefully we’ll see that the rest of the meet.”

To begin the excitement for the Cougars was their two relay teams earning season-best times.

In the 200-meter medley relay, led by senior Linnea Lindberg, sophomores Kelly Morgan and Chloe Larson and freshman Lauren Burckel, the team posted a season personal record of 1:42.57 for an overall eighth place finish.

The other strong relay performance came in the 800-meter free relay performed by freshmen Keiana Fountaine and Emily Barrier, sophomore Samantha Howell and junior Ryan Falk. The relay team impressed with a final time of 7:22.98 to give the Cougars their second highlight of the day finishing in seventh place.

The first day of the championship could easily intimidate, especially for many of the first-year swimmers for the Cougars. Leach broke down how he interpreted the day for WSU.

“Our girls had a lot of energy tonight and some nerves,” Leach said. “Hopefully we got those nerves out of our system and we can be a little bit sharper tomorrow.”

Thursday will mark the second day for the Pac-12 Championships and will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Federal Way, Washington at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.