Cougar swimming finished eighth out of 60 teams that competed in the National Invitational Championship in Cleveland, Ohio this weekend.

Assistant Coach Bex Freebairn said she felt WSU’s final team performance of the season was one of the best she had seen all season.

“The Cougars had amazing energy on the deck,” Freebairn said in a WSU news release. “It was great to see them cheering each other on in each event.”

Senior Linnea Lindberg claimed the National Invitational Championship in the 50-yard breaststroke. She is the first Cougar swimmer to win any sort of national title in program history.

Sophomore Taylor McCoy placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 1:57.25, less than a second behind the third-place finisher from Rice University.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team posted its second-fastest time this season with a time of 1:33.45 and the 400-yard medley relay team earned their second fastest time this season.

Freshman Paige Gardner earned a lifetime best in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.78 seconds.

The 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay teams each earned top 10 finishes.

Junior Ryan Falk finished in 12th in the 1650-yard freestyle and 14th in the 1000 freestyle.

The 400-yard freestyle team consisting of sophomore Chloe Larson, freshmen Sophia Balmaceda, Emily Barrier and Keiana Fountaine claimed fourth with a time of 3:21.90, less than a second away from breaking the school record in the event.

WSU finished with a three-day total of 293 points to grab eighth place. University of Akron won the tournament title with 637.5 points.

The Cougars will finish the season starting this Wednesday when sophomore Mackenzie Duarte competes in the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.