Air Force Men Sweep Tri-Meet; Air Force Women Defeat Orediggers, Tie Mavericks
In a Friday tri-meet, the Air Force men beat both of their opponents, Colorado Mesa and the Colorado School of Mines. The women finished with a tie and a win. Stock photo via Air Force Athletics
USAF ACADEMY – Air Force swept the competition at a Friday evening tri-meet, beating Colorado Mesa, 136.00-104.00, and Colorado Mines, 146.00-82.00, at Cadet Natatorium. The Falcons registered nine first-place finishes with seven others landing top-three finishes.
Air Force junior Wen Zhang, who leads the Falcons in first-place finishes this season, won three events, swimming to a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:40.70), the 100 freestyle (45.70) and the 500 freestyle (4:45.88).
Senior teammate Andrew Limpert raced to a pair of top finishes, winning the 50 freestyle with a 20.64. He also helped the 200 medley relay team to a first-place finish alongside Gabe Bartolomei, Tory Bartlettand Corey Shepard. Shepard also finished second behind Limpert in the 50 freestyle (20.99), and third in the 100 butterfly (51.01). Bartolomei also clocked a third-place finish in the 100 backstroke (51.99).
Falcon diver Alex Kenyon took the top spot in both events he competed in, winning the one-meter dive with a 300.30 and the three-meter dive with a 371.10. Diving teammate Tristan Traxwrangled in a third-place finish on the one-meter with a 229.88.
Air Force junior Tory Bartlett raced to a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, clocking a 57.85. It was his second first-place finish of the day after helping the 200 medley relay team to the top spot. Sophomore teammate Joseph Moore took first in the 400 IM, clocking a 4:14.17. Moore also helped the 200 medley relay team with Tommy Nagle, Andy Armbuster and Stephen Zanowic to a third-place finish in the event (1:34.75).
Other top-three finishes include Jason Menninger (100 breast/59.53), and the 200 freestyle relay team made up of Jack McGrath, Bartolomei, John Plutt and Zanowic (1:25.78).
Next up, Air Force travels to Provo, Utah, to take on Brigham Young in dual-meet action, Friday and Saturday (Jan. 14-15). Action is slated for 5 p.m. MT and 11 a.m., respectively, in Richards Building Pool.
Women’s Swimming
USAF ACADEMY – Air Force outscored Colorado Mines, 194.00-36.00 and tied Colorado Mesa, 121.00-121.00, in a Friday evening tri-meet at Cadet Natatorium. The Falcons saw five first-place finishes and 18 finishes in the top-three.
Freshman Abby Turnerhad an impressive day in the pool, winning first in the 50 freestyle (24.11) and helping the 200 free relay team to a first-place finish (1:40.46). Other members of the team were Brooke Costella, Raquelle Roesch and Lia Campbell. Turner also posted a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle (53.34), just behind teammate Kara Gavin who finished second (53.27).
Junior teammate Sefilina Maile took first in the 100 freestyle with a 52.81, while Gavin finished second in the same event (53.27). Maile also finished second behind Turner in the 50 freestyle (24.18).
Freshman standout Corbyn Cormack notched a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a 57.51. Teammates Shayla Markle (58.44) and Ella Martin (58.50), finished second and third, respectively. Cormack rounded out her day with a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.28), finishing behind second-place teammate Kimmy Woolfenden (1:05.94).
Sophomore Jessica Lloyd took first in the 1000 freestyle, clocking an 11:03.21 to beat second place by more than five seconds.
“It was a hard fought meet tonight and our women stepped up to the challenge,” head coach Colleen Murphy said. “After a stressful few weeks and returning to the pool on Monday, I am super proud of how we performed after only five days back in the pool at USAFA. Hats off to Mesa on an exciting meet and an unusual tie, it was great to have the opportunity to race again.”
Next up, the squad travels to Provo, Utah, to take on Brigham Young in dual-meet action, Friday and Saturday (Jan. 14-15). Action is slated for 5 p.m. MT and 11 a.m., respectively, in Richards Building Pool.
Courtesy: Colorado Mesa Athletics
Men’s Swimming
USAFA, Colo.— A dominating 1,000-yard freestyle win by freshman Jacob Troescher, who later came back to take second in the 500 free, and a 100 back 1-2 finish by fellow freshman Andrew Scoggin and Jeremy Koch led the Colorado Mesa University men’s swimming and diving team to a dual-meet split on Friday evening here at the United States Air Force Academy’s Cadet Natatorium.
The Mavericks also received three combined national qualification scores on the diving boards from Tanner Belliston and Noah Luna.
The CMU men, without the services of a few of their top swimmers, were able to extend their now 6-year Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual-meet winning streak to 12 with a 149-87 win over the Colorado School of Mines but were not able to duplicate their October, 2021 home win over the NCAA Division I Falcons, who claimed a 136-104 victory in their Senior Night meet. The Falcons also defeated the Orediggers, 146-82 in the other leg of the tri-meet, the first of 2022 for each squad.
The Mavericks, ranked fourth in the latest CSCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, are now 8-3 overall and 4-0 in RMAC duals this season with three wins over the nation’s 16th-ranked Orediggers. Their eight overall wins are equal to their program record.
In the 1,000 free, the second event of the night, Troescher posted a time of ten minutes, 2.85 seconds to win by more than 18 ½ seconds. The Eagle, Idaho native then touched in 4:53.81 during the 500 free.
In the 100 back, Scoggin finished in 51.31 seconds while Koch touched in 51.95 seconds for one of the Mavs’ eight total second place finishes throughout the night.
Two of those came on the diving boards as Belliston took second on the 1-meter with a 6-dive score of 291.23 points before finishing third on the 3-meter with a career-best score of 305.10 points. Both marks surpassed the NCAA Division II qualifying standards of 285 and 295 points.
Luna, competing for the first time this season, finished second on the 3-meter with a career-best 310.13 points to join Belliston as a national qualifier.
The Mavs also finished second in both relays to book-end the night. The 200 medley relay team of Lane Austin, Matt Barret, Treven Wertz and Felipe D’Orsifinished in 1:33.35 while the 200 free squad of Austin, D’Orsi, Scoggin and Kuba Kiszczaktouched in 1:25.29 in a tight finish with both the Orediggers (1:25.23) and Falcons (1:25.78). All three teams were within 55 hundredths of a second of each other.
Jake Simmons led CMU in the 400 IM, finishing second in 4:21.09 while Troescher, who competed in all three of the longest swimming events, placed sixth in 4:27.42.
The Mavs also went 2-4 in the 100 breast with Matt Barrett finished in 57.90 seconds while Lucas Viana was clocked in 59.72 seconds to take fourth. Barrett also won the second heat and placed third overall in the 100 free at 47.17 seconds. Kiszczak was third in the higher-seeded heat and fourth overall in 47.88 after he placed third In the 200 free at 1:45.63.
In the 50 free, Felipe D’Orsi led the Mavs, taking third in 21.69 seconds.
In the 100 fly, Lane Austin finished fourth (51.90) while Treven Wertz was right behind in 51.99 to place fifth.
The Mavericks will next compete on Jan. 21 in a tri-meet at BYU in Provo, Utah. The University of Denver Pioneers will also compete.
Women’s Swimming
USAFA, Colo.— For the second straight outing, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick women’s swimming and diving team came from behind to forge a tie with a NCAA Division I opponent.
The Mavericks, ranked fourth in Division II, won each of the four final swimming events and went 1-2-3 in the 1-meter diving competition to post a 121-121 tie with the host United States Air Force Academy on Friday evening here at the Cadet Natatorium.
The Mavericks, who had eight overall event wins in the 13-event format, also drubbed Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 24th-ranked rival Colorado School of Mines, 188-51, in the other leg of the tri-meet, extending their RMAC dual meet winning streak to 32 while guaranteeing their sixth consecutive season undefeated against Division II foes.
The Mavericks, who tied 8-time defending Western Athletic Conference Champion Northern Arizona over four days of competition at the A3 Performance Invitational in November are now 11-6-1 in duals this season. They will finish the year 7-0 in RMAC duals and 9-0 against Division II foes this season.
Borgenheimer set an improved NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time of 4:35.63 (4:25.63-altitude adjusted) to win the 400-yard individual medley by a huge 14.2-second margin. She was also strong in the 100 breaststroke, taking that event by more than a second in 1:04.79.
Meanwhile, White won the 200 free in 1:55.13 before starting CMU’s come-back with a dominant 100 back win. White finished that race in 57.12 seconds to win by 2.14.
White and Borgenheimer also swam on the first two legs of CMU’s second place 200 medley relay team, that started the night with a time of 1:47.14.
Amelia Kinnard then finished second in the 1000 free at 11:08.45 before White and Kelsea Wright went 1-2 in the 200 free. Wright finished 1:56.28.
Day then finished third in the 50 free, touching in 24.85 seconds before Borgenheimer won the 400 IM before the first intermission.
Meanwhile, Lange led the first of two 1-2-3 Maverick diving sweeps, claiming the 3-meter competition with 241.20 points. Kyra Apodaca finished second with 226.50 points while Harris finished third with 225. On the 1-meter contested later in the evening, Harris tallied 249.60 points on six dives to win over Lange (238.88), Apodaca (230.55) and the rest of the 7-diver field.
Following White’s 100 back win, Matoskova claimed a thrilling 500 freestyle win, touching in 5:21.58 to edge Air Force’s Sophie Boulware by just five hundredths of a second. Wright (5:23.77) and Kinnard (5:26.09) also placed well, taking fourth and fifth, respectively.
The 200 free relay team finished in 1:37.37 as they defeated their Falcon counterparts by 1.44 seconds.
Elsewhere, Ellie Wilkie led the Mavs in the 100 fly, finishing fifth in 1:00.97 while Wright (53.50) and Bottai (53.52) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to pace CMU in the 100 free.
The Mavs will continue their season in two weeks competing in a Jan. 21 tri-meet at BYU and against the University of Denver Pioneers in Provo, Utah.
Courtesy: Colorado School of Mines Athletics
Men’s Swimming
GOLDEN, Colo. – Braden Whitmarsh won the 200-free and Charles Burroughs was fastest in the 200-breaststroke to lead Colorado School of Mines in a men’s swimming dual against Air Force on Saturday.
Air Force took the dual 122-83 as Mines improved from Friday night’s 146-82 scoreline.
Whitmarsh won the 200-free in a 1:44.99 time to lead a Mines top-four sweep of the event as Ronan Lauingerand Joe Peak tied for second and Nick Delaney was fourth (1:48.09); Lauinger and Peak provided the race of the day as they swam the second heat by themselves and pushed each other to a 1:46.46 simultaneous touch at the wall.
Burroughs had the fastest time in the 200-breast swimming in exhibition, hitting a personal-best 2:12.26. Burroughs was also second in the 200-fly in 1:53.94 as Mines placed 2 through 6 with Joe Peak taking third in 1:57.85. Harry Smith was second in both the 50-free (21.04) and 100-free (46.34), and Lauinger was second in the 500-free (4:56.44) ahead of O’Grady in third (4:59.09) and Michael Kietzman fourth (5:03.01).
Henry Oberley snagged a second-place 10:18.23 in the 1000-free just ahead of good swims by Jaron O’Grady (10:18.60) and Josh Lee(10:20.59), and Whitmarsh added a third-place 1:58.85 in the 200-back.
Mines’ 400-medley relay of Jarod Schahrer, Gavin Gilmore, Burroughs, and Waite nearly pulled off a comeback victory to open the meet as Burroughs and Waite closed fast to take second in 3:31.41, just four-hundreths off Air Force’s pace. In the 400-free relay, Mines’ crew of Kietzman, Braden Hunt, Waite, and Smith swam 3:10.80 for second.
Air Force set a pair of pool records as their 400-free relay won in 3:05.68, and Wen Zhang won the 200-IM in 1:52.88.
NEXT UP
Mines returns to action next Friday at Wyoming, then hosts Adams State Saturday for Senior Day.
Women’s Swimming
COLORADO SPRINGS – A win by the men’s 200-free relay highlighted Friday night’s tri-meet as Colorado School of Mines got back to second semester action at Air Force with Colorado Mesa also in the pool.
The men capped the meet with a win as the 200-free relay squad of Michael Kietzman, Braden Hunt, Harry Smith, and Garrett Waite won a thriller by sixth-hundreths over Colorado Mesa in 1:25.23. The men also had had a number of second-place finishes to highlight their night, including Henry Oberley in the 1000-free in 10:21.39, a spot ahead of Ronan Lauinger in 10:26.55, while Braden Whitmarsh was also second in the 200-free in 1:44.54. Charles Burroughs swam 50.81 for second in the 100-fly, and Harry Smith hit second in the 100-free in 46.51.
Lauinger later finished third in both the 400-IM (4:22.07) and 500-free (4:57.39), and Whitmarsh was fourth in the 100-back (52.23).
Among the women’s top individual finishes, Meghan Slowey took third in the 1000-free in 11:12.70 and seventh in the 500 (5:32.40), Sophia Buhr finished the 400-IM in a fourth-place 4:54.12, and was also fourth in the 100-fly at 1:00.66, and Maddie Finley was fifth in the 50-free in 25.32.
Air Force won all sides of the tri-meet with a 146-82 score over #16 Mines on the men’s side and 194-36 against #24 Mines for the women; #4 CMU also won head-to-head with the Orediggers 149-87 and 185-51, while the Air Force men defeated CMU 136-104 and the women tied 121-121.
NEXT UP
The Mines and Air Force men will swim in Golden Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The women are back in action along with the men next Friday at Wyoming.
