Swimming Welcomes Arizona State to Gibb Pool

by wsucougars.com
Oct 22, 2014

THIS WEEK:  The Washington State swim team welcomes Arizona State for a Friday evening dual meet at Gibb Pool, Oct. 24…the Cougars will face the Sun Devils at 5 p.m…the meet marks Arizona State’s first appearance in Pullman in program history.

HEAD COACH TOM JAGER SAYS: “This is a good meet for us. We’ve been trying to catch these guys and anyone in the Pac-12. We swam well these last few meets. We’re competitive in the Pac-12. That’s been our goal, and we’re doing our job. Our mindset is good going into this meet.”

LAST TIME AGAINST THE SUN DEVILS: The Cougars traveled to Tempe, Ariz., Oct. 27, 2012 to face the Sun Devils for just the fourth time in program history (third in Tempe)…in a double dual meet with Grand Canyon and Arizona State, WSU fell to the Sun Devils, 170-88…then-junior Emma Johansson led the Cougars with a victory in the 100 fly…Johansson finished the race in 54.82 seconds, which at the time was the 13th-fastest NCAA Division I time of the season…then-freshman Loree Olson notched a pair of third place finishes in 200 back and 200 IM…sophomore Nicole Proulx added a third place finish in the 100 free.

WSU POSTING TOP-100 TIMES: The Cougars have national top-100 rankings in 10 events this season…junior Presley Wetterstrom boasts the highest WSU ranking…Wetterstrom swam the 200 breast in 2:16.96, Oct. 17, the 24th-best time in the country this season…the Cougars also garner three relay teams in the top 100…the relay team of Hannah Bruggman, Haley Rose Love, Nicole Proulx, and Alison Mand swam the 200 free relay in 1:34.34 against UCLA for the 18th-fastest time in NCAA Division I swimming.

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.

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.