As 2024 comes to end, we look back on the year and remember some of the best moments for the Arizona athletic department.
Here are the top 10 moments for Arizona Athletics in 2024:
1. Triathlon wins national championship
In just its second year of existence, the women’s triathlon team won the national title. The championship included wins against Big 12 foes Arizona State and TCU.
Arizona finished with 942 total points. In just his second season, head coach Wes Johnson has set a high bar for his program.
Junior Kelly Wetteland finished second individually with a time of 59.20 (only 13 seconds off from first place).
Freshman Margareta Vrablova finished just behind Wetteland in third place with a time of 59.24.
Junior Molly Lakustiak finished in sixth place and sophomore Dana Prikrylova finished ninth, making it four Wildcats to finish in the top ten.
This victory marked the 23rd overall national championship in Arizona Athletics history. It was the first since the 2018 women’s golf team championship.
2. Volleyball wins NIVC title
In her second season as head coach, Charita Stubbs has led her team to a postseason championship.
The Wildcats won the NIVC to capture their first championship in program history, defeating Bowling Green 3-2.
After being down 2-1, Arizona came back to win in five sets. Fifth year senior Jaelyn Hodge led with 25 kills, followed by junior Jordan Wilson with 18 kills.
Hodge was named MVP for the tournament. After starting the season on an 11 game win streak, Arizona was able to finish on an 11 game win streak.
Wilson and freshman Avery Scoggins were named to the all-tournament team. The Wildcats captured the championship in front of a packed McKale Center.
After being snubbed from the NCAA tournament, Arizona made the most of its opportunity and will ride into the offseason with a championship.
3. Arizona Baseball wins final Pac-12 titles
In dramatic fashion, Arizona was able to capture the last ever Pac-12 championship. The Wildcats walked off USC 4-3 in the conference tournament title game a week after walking off Oregon State to claim the final regular-season championship.
This was not just the final Pac-12 baseball tournament championship, but the last overall Pac-12 championship.
After being down 3-0, Tommy Splaine hit a single that brought in Emilio Corona for the game winning run. Splaine had two hits on the night, and also brought in a run.
Mason White and Richie Morales also had runs in the win. Anthony Susac was able to close out the ninth inning by retiring all Trojans in order.
This clinched an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, and would host a regional in Tucson.
4. Tetairoa McMillan breaks football career receiving record
Even though it was not the season Arizona football hoped for, the season still produced a record breaking receiver. Junior Teteiroa McMillan set a program record for career receiving yards.
Doing so in the loss to TCU, McMillan finished with nine catches for 115 yards. Beating Bobby Wade’s record, McMillan will go down as one of the program’s greatest players to ever play.
McMillan finished the season with 84 receptions for 1,319 yards and eight touchdowns. He now awaits for the NFL draft to see where he will be drafted to.
5. Softball’s surprise win in Fayetteville regional
Head coach Caitlin Lowe and Arizona earned a spot in the NCAA softball tournament and was placed in the Fayetteville regional.
Not only did the Wildcats beat Villanova, they beat the hosting team Arkansas to advance to the super regional.
The first game resulted in a 14-3 run-rule win over Villanova, then went on to beat Arkansas 2-1. In the regional finale, Arizona matched up against Villanova again where Arizona won 9-4.
The Wildcats were led by sophomore Emily Schepp who had three runs in the regional finale, as well as Junior Dakota Kennedy who has two runs.
Arizona went on to play in the Stillwater super regional, but was unable to pick up a win as the season ended.
6. Men’s tennis wins program’s first Pac-12 tournament title
Another Pac-12 championship was claimed by Arizona, this time in men’s tennis.
Head coach Clancy Shields and the Wildcats beat Stanford 4-0 to win the program’s first Pac-12 tournament title.
Arizona was the first team in the conference to win the championship other than USC and UCLA. The Wildcats won the doubles competition and then went on to win the singles.
Jay Friend, Gustaf Strom, and Nick Lagaev were able to close out the title for Arizona and the duos of Friend/Colton Smith and Alexander Rozin/Strom won in the doubles.
7. Men’s basketball wins final Pac-12 regular season title
In its final season in the Pac-12, Arizona men’s basketball was able to claim the regular season Pac-12 championship, by defeating UCLA 88-65.
It was the 18th regular season championship in program history. This also marked one of the last games played in Pauley Pavillion between the Bruins and the Wildcats for the foreseeable future.
Led by freshman KJ Lewis, the Wildcats put a beat down on UCLA. Lewis scored 18 points, and was followed by Caleb Love with 17 points.
This marked the first win for Tommy Lloyd at Pauley Pavillion who was 0-2 in his previous trips.
With “U-of-A” chants raining down inside the arena, Arizona went into the last Pac-12 basketball tournament as the number one seed.
8. T-Mac’s season-opening performance
Coming off a 10-3 season and an unreal offseason, Arizona football opened their season up against New Mexico. With heisman trophy aspirations, McMillan put on a show.
Finishing the game with ten catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns. Those touchdowns came from 69, 17, 78, and 40 yards.
The Wildcats defeated New Mexico 61-39, and it would be just the start for McMillan in a historic season.
9. Women’s basketball wins NCAA tourney game after sneaking into field
Adia Barnes and the Wildcats were granted an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament after an up and down season.
Playing the First Four, Arizona was matched up against Auburn. Led by freshman Jada Williams, the Wildcats beat the Tigers 69-59.
Williams scored 17 and was followed by senior Helena Pueyo who had 16 points, with 14 coming in the second half.
For the Wildcats, it was their fourth straight opening win in the NCAA tournament. Arizona would go into the opening round as a number 11 seed and would take on sixth seed Syracuse.
10. Three Wildcats taken in 2024 NFL Draft
After the 2023 football season, three Wildcats were taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. Jordan Morgan, Jacob Cowing, and Tanner McLachlan were taken by three teams.
Morgan was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round. He was the 25th overall pick in the draft.
Cowing was taken by the San Francisco 49ers at 135th overall, and McLachlan was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals at 194th overall.
Morgan will more than likely be with the Packers for the foreseeable future, while Cowing and McLachlan will try to stay with their respective teams.
What were your top Arizona moments in 2024? Tell us in the comments!