2026 Mountain West Conference Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21
- Location: CRWC Natatorium, Houston, TX
- Defending Champions: San Diego State women (4x)
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Record Book
- 2025 Results
- Live Video: Mountain West Network
- Championship Central
- Teams: Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Grand Canyon*, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San José State, UNLV, Washington State, Wyoming
TEAM STANDINGS (THRU DAY 1)
- Washington State – 292
- San Diego State – 275.5
- UNLV – 236
- Fresno State – 201
- Nevada – 200.5
- Air Force – 189
- Wyoming – 164.5
- Colorado State – 133.5
- San Jose State – 121
- Grand Canyon – 90
- New Mexico – 65
The 2026 Mountain West Championships are underway! The conference has adopted to new NCAA format, with a different order of events by day. Rather than the usual conference day 1 of the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay, the Mountain West began with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 400 medley tonight. The diving event of the day was 1-meter.
Despite not having a diving team, Washington State has managed to end the 1st day of the meet in the lead, a very promising start for the rapidly-building program. 4x defending MW champions San Diego State find themselves in a close 2nd, ending the day just 16.5 points behind Washington State.
It was UNLV junior Ava Olson who drew 1st blood, winning the 500 free in a very tight race with Nevada senior Huska Batbayar. Olson posted a 4:43.08, setting a new career best by well over a second. Her previous best was a 4:44.88, which she swam at the 2025 Minnesota Invite. Batbayar finished right behind Olson in 4:43.15, which is a personal best for her as well. Batbayar’s previous best was a 4:44.32, which she swam at last year’s Mountain West Championships, where she also finished 2nd.
Perhaps the biggest story coming out of the 500 is that the defending champion, Wyoming’s Macey Hansen, fell well short of defending her title. Hansen won the event last year as a freshman, where she swam a 4:41.56. Tonight, she came in 4th with a 4:50.07. Hansen seemed to be on track to match or better her performance from last year. She was the top seed coming into the day, having already gone 4:44.04 this season. She then finished 2nd in prelims with a 4:46.69, which looked promising, but she wasn’t able to match it tonight in finals.
Washington State’s Emily Lundgren then defended her title in the 200 IM, popping a 1:57.94. She nearly matched her performance from last year, where she swam a 1:57.81 to win. That 1:57.81 marks Lundgren’s career best in the event. UNLV’s Grace Wharton came in 2nd once again, finishing in 1:58.04. That swim marks a new career best for Wharton, as her previous best was the 1:59.35 she swam to finished 2nd at this meet last year.
Of note, Fresno State’s Aliz Kalmar was exceptional on breaststroke tonight, splitting a blistering 31.75 on that leg of the race. Kalmar was an NCAA ‘B’ finalist in the 200 breast last season, and given her fantastic split on the IM tonight, we should definitely be keeping an eye on her in the breast events through the rest of the meet.
Washington State was also on top of things in the 50 free tonight, where Darcy Revitt defended her title from last year. Revitt clocked a 21.84, winning the race handily after clocking a 21.83 in prelims this morning. That time is a decent clip better than the 22.02 she swam to win the race last year. Revitt is just a sophomore, meaning she’s now won the MW title in the 50 free both of her 1st 2 seasons.
The relay on the day was the 400 medley relay, where Washington State once again tasted victory. Anna Rauchholz (53.06), Ashlyn Hernandez (1:00.30), Lundgren (52.40), and Revitt (46.88) combined for a 3:32.64, winning the race by over half a second. The Cougars won this relay last year as well, but they bettered their time from last year, which was a 3:34.13.
San Diego State made it a race with Washington State, getting out to a faster start. Abby Storm led the Aztecs of in 52.51, while Moa Bergdahl clocked a speedy 58.64 on the breaststroke leg. That put SDSU into the 200 turn at 1:51.15, well ahead of Washington State’s 1:53.36. Also of note, Fresno State’s Mackenzie Lung put up a blistering 57.13 on the breast leg of her relay.
Wyoming’s Alicia Gonzalez won 1-meter diving with a score of 333.75. Gonzalez came in 3rd in this event last year with a score of 308.30, showing some marked improvement year-over-year.
WSU has had stars over the years (Lundgreen), super underrated