WSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Hosts Cougar Sports Awards

PULLMAN, Wash. (April 29, 2022) — After a three-year hiatus, the WSU Athletics Cougar Sports Awards returned to an in-person format at the CUB Senior Ballroom Wednesday night. The event, hosted by the WSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), celebrates and honors student-athletes and staff for their athletic, academic, and personal accomplishments through the 2021-22 academic year.
 
“It was great to be back in person to celebrate the accomplishments of our student-athletes and athletic department,” said WSU SAAC President Michaela Jones. “Congratulations to everyone honored and a huge thank you to SAAC for all their efforts in organizing the event. It takes a village to make these things possible and we are so grateful for another successful CSAs.”
 
Colton Johnsen (Men’s Track & Field) and Chloe Larson (Swimming) were honored as Athletes of the Year for their outstanding accomplishments in their sports. Johnsen earned NCAA Indoor Second Team All-American honors in the 3,000m and the mile at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. He became the first WSU track and field student-athlete to earn four indoor All-American honors in their Cougar career since Bernard Lagat (1998 & 1999).
 
Larson finished her WSU swimming career with four school records (50 free, 100 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay) with 20 career individual wins. She became the first Cougar to earn back-to-back trips to the NCAA Swimming Championships since Michaela Ahlin in 2009-10, and her 2021 Pac-12 Conference Championship win in the 50 free was the first individual title in program history. 
 
Team of the Year honors were awarded to Women’s Basketball, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. This marked the first time the Cougars participated in March Madness in back-to-back seasons in program history. The team had its highest finish ever in the Pac-12, and most wins in a season in the NCAA era (post-1982). 
 
Women’s Basketball was also honored as the Glenn Krac Academic Team of the Year, while Travion Brown (Football) and Magda Jehlarova (Volleyball) earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
 
“It was a joy to honor and celebrate our WSU student-athletes and staff for their accomplishments,” Jones continued. “We are so grateful to be back in person this year to recognize the many athletic and academic…