Swimming Debuts in Los Angeles

THIS WEEK:  The Washington State University swim team opens its 2014-15 season in Los Angeles Oct. 9-10…the Cougars will face USC in a dual meet Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m…the team travels to Westwood to face UCLA Friday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m.

HEAD COACH TOM JAGER SAYS: “Our team believes in competing against the best. We’ll take on USC on Thursday night – obviously one of the best teams in the country. We’ve got UCLA on Friday afternoon – my alma mater. We always love swimming against those guys. They’re great competition and they’re building every year, too. The Pac-12 is getting faster and faster every day.”

THIS YEAR’S COUGARS: The Cougars’ 2014-15 team features 13 returning student-athletes…led by seniors Haley Anderson, Alison Mand, and Nicole Proulx…WSU welcomes six fresh faces to the team, including Anna Brolin, Hannah Bruggman, Jessica Marston, Monica McNamara, Rachel Thompson, and Talisa Wibmer.

LAST TIME AGAINST USC: The Cougars hosted the Trojans Oct. 18, in their first home meet of the year…WSU fell to USC, 146-116…senior Emma Johansson led the Cougars with 18 points, including a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay with Frederikke Hall, Alison Mand, and Haley Rose Love…Love made waves for the Cougars with her first-place finish in the 100 free, and tabbed a second-place finish in the 50 free with a time of 24.22…fellow freshman Elise Locke took second place in the 200 fly (2:03.46).

LAST TIME AGAINST UCLA: Washington State welcomed UCLA to Gibb Pool with back-to-back duels against the Bruins, Jan. 17 and 18…the Cougars fell to the Bruins 133-67 and 142-80, respectively…WSU’s Mand highlighted the competition for the Cougars Friday night, notching a first-place finish in the 50 free (24.25)…junior Nicole Proulx made a splash with a first-place finish in the 100 free in 51.61 seconds…Proulx was the highest scorer for Washington State in Saturday’s meet with 13 points.

WSU LAST SEASON: The Cougars finished 3-6 in dual meets last season in a conference boasting four teams in the top 10 at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships…WSU finished eighth at the Pac-12 Championships, edging out Oregon State…the 200 medley relay team of Emma Johansson, Frederikke Hall, Alison Mand, and Nicole Proulx broke the school record in a time of 1:39.45…at the Hawkeye Invitational, the relay team of Emma Johansson, Alison Mand, Haley Rose Love, and Anne Kenney placed second in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:31.66, besting a school record that had stood for nearly five years…12 cougars earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors…Cougars earned Team Scholar All-America status.

COACHING STAFF: Head coach Tom Jager enters his fourth year at Washington State after seven years coaching at Idaho…the Collinsville, Ill., native is a six-time NCAA Champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist…Jager is joined by assistant coach Adriana Quirke…Quirke assisted Jager during his final three seasons with the Vandals before joining Jager at the helm of Cougar swimming…WSU alumna Kelsey Bruggman rounds out the Cougar coaching staff in her first season as the coordinator of operations.