Carly Ellingsen is a fourth-generation Coug and her two family members in the Washington State University Athletics Hall of Fame help prove it.
Carly is named after her great grandfather Carl “Tuffy” Ellingsen, most known for passing, throwing and kicking the Cougs to their second Rose Bowl in 1930. “The athletic gene definitely skipped a generation when it came to me though,” she said. Ever since she can remember, she loved science and animals. Fittingly, Carly completed her undergraduate degree in zoology at WSU. Now, while not the first Coug in her family, she is the first to pursue a graduate degree at WSU. Carly enjoys hiking, downhill skiing, and pretty much anything Cougar athletics.
Carly has an orange domestic medium hair cat named George (pictured here). “He was actually my patient on my soft tissue surgery rotation earlier this year, brought in from a rescue in the Tri-Cities. He had a heart defect that Dr. Boel Fransson and Dr. Kyle Martin surgically corrected. I fell so in love with him during his time in the hospital I just knew I had to take him home!”
Carly, a Spokane native, plans to move to western Washington to work as a small animal general practitioner after graduation. “Truly, all I can think of is how much I love my cat as well as this school! I am a Coug through and through and am grateful for everything Pullman has given me over the past 8 years, including introducing me to my now-fiancé, Jeremy.”