Women’s Swimming Set for Home Opener Against Washington State

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State women's swimming squad returns home to the friendly confines of the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for the first time this season, welcoming Pac-12 foe Washington State in their conference opener. The meet, representing the first competition for the Sun Devils since the Indiana Invitational in November, is set for an 11 a.m. MST start on Saturday Jan. 12.

THIS WEEK
Sat., Jan. 12 – vs. Washington State (Tempe, Ariz.) 11 a.m. MST
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HOW TO KEEP UP

• The meet between the Cougars and Sun Devils will be live streamed on the ASU live stream, accessible here. Fans can also follow the action the team's Twitter account, @ASUSwimDive or on Meet Mobile under "Arizona State vs. Washington State".

LAST TIME OUT

• ASU traveled to Bloomington for the Indiana Invitational in November, competing against some of the top talent in the country.
• The women placed six in the top-5 on the weekend, including Erica Lanning in the 500FR (fourth), Emma Nordin in the 200FR (fifth) and 1650FR (fourth), Ruby Martin in the 200FL (fifth) and as a team in the 400 medley relay (fifth) and 800FR relay (third).

 
COUGS VS. DEVILS

• The Sun Devils own the series history with an all-time record of 5-2. The last win against Washington State came in 2018 while the last loss came in 2015.
• Washington State and ASU faced off last year with the Sun Devils coming out on top to the tune of 177-83. The Sun Devil women won 13 of the 14 events in the meet led by Chloe Isleta who notched three wins (100/200 back, 200 IM) with a team-leading 27 points in the victory.

 
QUICK FACTS

• Gold medalist Olympian Cierra Runge looks to take the block for the first time in maroon and gold after transferring to ASU from Wisconsin last winter. Runge, who won gold in Rio with Team USA in the 800 freestyle relay, trained in Tempe leading up to Rio under head coach Bob Bowman, who served as the head men's coach that year. The Pennsylvania-native broke an NCAA record in the 500 free and an American record as part of the 800 free relay during her freshman season at Cal on top of notching All-American status in the 400 free relay at Wisconsin. Runge also broke Wisconsin school records in the 200, 500, 1000 and 1650 free events as a Badger.
• Sophomore Chloe Isleta looks to extend her dominance in backstroke events this season against the Cougars. Isleta has taken the top time in six of the eight dual meet backstroke events this season, only taking second in the 100 and 200 backstroke against USC. Isleta also placed sixth and eighth in the 100 and 200 back, respectively, at the Indiana Invitational in a field of 30 swimmers. She also has four of the top five times in the 100 and 200 back among the Sun Devils this season while placing two of those times on the top-10 in school history list.
•  The women now have 19 NCAA B-Cuts halfway through the season. All cuts were notched at the Indiana Invitational, and the Sun Devils look to improve on these times as they reach the postseason.

 
HOMECOMING

• The Sun Devils added a new coach to the staff in the offseason – #SunDevil4Life Herbie Behm.
• Behm returns to Tempe after serving as the assistant sprints coach at the University of Utah for two seasons. During his tenure in Salt Lake, Behm led a group of 20+ student-athletes in their daily training programs while assisting and working with each individuals' technique, training strategies and post-race analysis. Under Behm's tutelage, 20 student-athletes set school records in just two seasons.
• Behm, a Tucson-native, swam at Arizona State from 2010-13. Excelling in the classroom as well, Behm was a three-time Scholar-Athlete Award winner and graduated with his degree in Psychology while minoring in Communications. As a Sun Devil, Behm was a part of the foursome that set the school record in the 400 medley relay.