Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Washington State opens its home slate Friday against UCLA at 4:30 p.m. at Gibb Pool. UCLA leads the all-time series 13-1 and has won the last three meetings. WSU’s only win in the series was the Cougars’ last win over a ranked team, beating No. 23 UCLA 143-119 in 2016 in Pullman.
ON DECK
WSU returns to competition with a conference road trip to the Bay Area for meets at No. 11 California Oct. 27 and No. 10 Stanford Oct. 28.
HOW TO FOLLOW
All home meets will be webstreamed through wsucougars.com during the season and fans can visit the swimming schedule page on wsucougars.com for the link.
COUGS TALLY SEVEN WINS, FINISH THIRD AT FRESNO STATE INVITE
Washington State opened their season finishing third at Fresno State Invite last weekend. WSU closed 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. In Friday’s morning session, 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 swimming 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.
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 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 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. Dori Hathazi earned her spot in the NCAA’s in the 200 fly after posting an NCAA “B” time 1:55.92 to finish seventh overall in the Pac-12 Conference Championships last weekend. Hathazi’s time broke her own pervious school record and helped her earn a trip to Knoxville in her first collegiate season. The Nyiregyhaza, Hungary native owns four WSU Top-10 times this season, has posted eight individual wins along with the school record in the 200 fly as well as the Gibb Pool record in the 200 fly. Lundgren qualified in both the 100 and 200 breast after finishing third at the Pac-12 Championships in the 200 Breast with a WSU record 2:08.33 along with an NCAA “B” time in the 100 breast with a 1:00.78 at the Art Adamson Invite in Texas last November. The Chula Vista, Calif. native paced the team with 11 individual wins during the regular season, owns three WSU Top-10 times including school records in the 100 breast and 200 breast along with Gibb Pool records in the 100 breast and 200 breast.
WSU CLOSED 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.
EMILY LUNDGREN PLACES THIRD, THREE WSU RECORDS FALL AT 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. Fellow freshman Dori Hathazi also posted a WSU record, breaking her own mark in the 200 fly with a 1:55.92, good for seventh place in the Pac-12. The third school record to fall during the day came in the meet’s final event as the 400 free relay team of Angela Di Palo, Noelle Harvey, Hailey Grotte and Selena Duran posted a 3:17.76, good for seventh in the conference.
