Boise State Defeats Denver and Colorado Mesa on the Road

BOISE STATE VS. DENVER VS. COLORADO MESA

  • Results
  • Hosted by Denver
  • Saturday, January 21st
  • 25 yards
  • Dual meet format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

  • WOMEN- Boise State 166.5, Denver 131.5
  • WOMEN- Boise State 235, Colorado Mesa 65
  • WOMEN- Denver 227, Colorado Mesa 71
  • MEN- Denver 203, Colorado Mesa 96

The Boise State women picked up a pair of wins this weekend, as they took down Denver and Colorado Mesa on the road. Host team Denver also came away with a victory, as the men and women both defeated Colorado Mesa in front of their home crowd.

Boise State senior Brittany Aoyama was the top performer for the Broncos, picking up 3 wins individually. Aoyoama swept the butterflies, dominating the field with winning times of 53.91 in the 100 fly and 2:02.74 in the 200 fly. She also swam the 100 free, battling closely with Denver’s Johanna Roas. Through the front half of the race, Roas took the lead, but Aoyama charged home with a 25.43 split to win in 49.77 to Roas’ 50.19.

Freshman Neil Wachtler impressed for the Denver men, winning back-to-back races. In the 200 free, Wachtler led a 1-2 finish with teammate Alex Walton, winning in 1:44.82 while Walton followed in 1:45.32. Wachtler returned for the 100 back just minuted later, racing to a 52.94 to out-touch teammate Trey Kilbride (52.95) by a hundredth.

PRESS RELEASE – BOISE STATE

DENVER, Colo. – Two days of altitude proved to be no problem for Boise State this weekend as it closed its two-meet road trip Saturday with wins over host No. 22 (collegeswimming.com) Denver, 166.5-131.5, and Colorado Mesa, 235-65. Senior Brittany Aoyama led the way with three victories (100 fly, 200 fly, 100 free) while Emma Chard (500 free, 1,000 free) and Katelyn Martin (50 free, 200 free relay) each captured a pair of events. The Bronco divers played a big role in the win, as well, sweeping the springboard events as Kacee Olson topped the 1-meter field and Karli Kriewall captured the 3-meter event.

The Broncos, 6-1 this year in head-to-head action, split off next week for their final regular-season actions before the Mountain West Championships, which are set for Feb. 15-18. The Bronco swimmers will host Northern Arizona and Nevada Saturday, Jan. 28, at 11 a.m. at the Boise West YMCA, while the divers head to Colorado Springs for the AFA Diving Invitational from Jan. 27-28.

“That was a tough weekend. We had agreed that we wouldn’t talk about the altitude until the meet was over, and the team handles it well,” said Boise State head coach Jeremy Kipp. “You can tell by the swims that we paid the price in a few places but that’s what we were after. We were about getting out strong and challenging ourselves and Denver, which is a very well-coached and tough team in their own right.”

As in Friday’s win at Wyoming, the Broncos used a strong second half of the meet to pull away for the win, capturing eight of the final 11 events. Aoyama got the run started with her first win of the day, the 200 fly, in 2:02.74. Martin followed by taking the 50 free in 23.28 with Cody Evans tying for third in 24.03. Olson (266.20), Kriewall (263.15), Taylor Hosein (245.75) and Cassidy Bose (239.70) swept the top four spots on 1-meter next, with Aoyama then going 49.77 to win the 100 free. After Denver captured both the 200 back and 200 breast, the Broncos came back in the 500 free with Chard (4:54.99) coming in first and Felicity Cann third at 5:04.81 and with Aoyama’s third win of the day, this one in the 100 fly with a time of 53.91.

Kriewall then topped the 3-meter field with a score of 287.50, followed by Olson in second with a score of 281.35. After Chard was edged out of the 200 IM by 0.49 of a second by Denver’s Bailey Andison, the Bronco quartet of Abbey Sorensen, Martin, Evans and Ally Kleinsorgen closed the meet with a winning time of 1:32.34 in the 200 free relay.

“The team’s strong performance at the end enlightened Coach Meghan and me a bit. We think we are good and compete, and both Wyoming and Denver are tough places to swim because they have great pride and are tough at home,” Kipp said. “We realized how gritty this team is. The faces on the bus at 7:30 a.m. out of Laramie had me a bit worried but the Broncos were just conserving their energy.

“The divers and Coach Brandon were tremendous today and gave us an obvious advantage.” Kipp continued. “They did an excellent job of bouncing back from back-to-back competitions as well. All of that bouncing at altitude takes a toll on the legs.”

Denver opened the tri-meet with a victory in the 400 medley relay but the Broncos came right back with wins in the next two events as Chard captured the 1,000 free in 10:14.99 followed by Felicity Cann claiming the 200 free in 1:49.13. Amelia Draney (1:51.79) and Cody Evans (1:53.15) took third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 free to add more points to the Boise State ledger. Boise State then took three of the top five spots in the 100 back as Ally Kleinsorgen (55.84) took second, Abbey Sorensen (56.06) third and Emily Tanasse (59.11) fifth.

PRESS RELEASE – DENVER

DENVER The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs combined for 18 event wins in 34 races against Colorado Mesa and Boise State (women) on Saturday afternoon at El Pomar Natatorium. 

Denver’s women opened the meet with a victory in the 400 medley relay, combining for a time of 3:43.79. Junior Morgan McCormick (Golden, Colo.), senior Amanda Sanders (Superior, Colo.), junior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.) and senior Johanna Roas (Munich, Germany) earned their second win of the season in the event and the program’s fifth overall.

Sophomore Kyle Ewoldt (Gilbert, Ariz.) picked up the first men’s victory of the afternoon in the 1000 free, finishing the distance race in 9:42.03 for his first victory in the event this season. Freshman Jesse Haraden (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) touched second in the race with a time of 10:00.01. In the preceding women’s distance race, juniors Maddie Myers (Arvada, Colo.), Karly Haraden (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) and Grace Sommerville (Ashburton, New Zealand) and senior Nicole Cassou (Castle Rock, Colo.) finished 2-5.

In her first individual race of the afternoon, Roas finished 0.27 seconds behind the leader in the 200 free to finish second, while freshman Neil Wachtler (Waco, Texas) and junior Alex Walton (Atlanta, Ga.) touched 1-2 in the men’s race to score for Denver.

McCormick grabbed her fifth win of the season in the 100 back with a time of 54.98, while Wachtler followed that up with his second win in as many men’s races, clocking in at 52.94, edging teammate and sophomore Trey Kilbride (Austin, Texas) by 0.01 seconds.

Sanders earned the Pioneers fourth-straight event win, this one coming in the 100 breast as the senior earned her third victory in the event with a time of 1:03.30. Sophomore Bailey Andison (Smiths Falls, Ontario) and classmate Courtney Laird (Overland Park, Kan.) finished second and third, respectively in the race with times of 1:04.39 and 1:05.86.

Seniors Ben Severino (Des Moines, Iowa) and Connor Corrigan (Boulder, Colo.) followed that up with a second and third place finish in the 100 breast with times of 58.90 and 59.29, respectively.

Moving to the 200 fly, Bradley, sophomore Avery Niemann (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Sommerville finished 2-4 in the 11th event of the afternoon, which was followed up by a 1-2 finish by freshman Colin Gilbert (Kamloops, B.C.) and freshman Craig Robrock (Savage, Minn.) on the men’s side. The 200 fly victory is Gilbert’s first in the event this season and his fifth event win of his rookie season overall.

In the women’s sprint, junior Morgan Wice-Roslin (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore Lauren Moden(Parker, Colo.) touched one after another at 24.02 and 24.03 to finish second and third in the women’s 50 free. Redshirt-senior Kyle Robrock (Savage, Minn.) turned in his third win in the men’s 50 free this season with a time of 20.10.

During the first swimming break of the afternoon, the divers took to the boards with freshman Sammy Walker(Los Gatos, Calif.) finishing fifth in the women’s 1 meter (223.35) and sophomore Ryan Reed (Springdale, Ark.) winning the men’s 3 meter (271.45) to lead the Pioneers.

Senior Patrick Guillory (Meadows Place, Texas) won his third race of the season on the other side of the diving break and his first in the 100 free, clocking in at 46.50. 

McCormick made it six wins in 2016-17 with a victory in the 200 back, touching at 2:00.58 to lead the pack. Junior Ray Bornman (Mackay, Queensland) made it a sweep in the event for the Pioneers with a time of 1:51.87. Senior Tim Cottam (Sydney, Australia) and Kilbride finished second and third behind Bornman in the race with times of 1:54.15 and 1:56.55, respectively.

Sanders made it a sweep for the sophomore in the breaststroke races, leading the field in the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.75 on Saturday, her fifth victory in the event this season.

Walton and junior Jared Smith (Boulder City, Nev.) touched 1-2 to lead the Pioneers in the 500 free, finishing the distance race at 4:41.68 and 4:43.19.

Gilbert capped off a sweep in the butterfly events on the afternoon with a time of 51.55 to win the men’s 100 fly. Senior Travis Greenwald (Wilton, Iowa) finished 0.33 seconds behind Gilbert to touch second in the race.

At the second break for diving, Walker got up to third in the 3 meter diving, carding a score of 271.85, while freshman Alex Morgan (Dyer, Ind.) earned a second place finish in the men’s 1 meter event with a score of 277.50.

Andison and Ewoldt swept the 200 IM races following the final diving intermission on Saturday for the Pioneers with times of 2:06.23 and 1:54.38 in their respective races.

Kyle Robrock, Cottam, junior Anton Loncar (Hillsboro, Ore.) and freshman Sid Farber (Portland, Ore.) concluded the Saturday meet with a win in the 200 free relay, earning Denver’s first win in the event this season with a time of 1:19.51.

Fans interested in making a donation to the women’s swimming and diving program can do so by clicking here. To make a donation to the men’s swimming and diving program, click here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.     

Up Next:

Denver will be back in action again next weekend. DU’s diving programs will be in Colorado Springs for the two-day Air Force Diving Invitational (Jan. 27-28), while the swimming programs will host the Spring Eliminator against Air Force on Saturday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m. MT.

PRESS RELEASE – COLORADO MESA

DENVER – The Colorado Mesa University men’s swimming and diving team won four events against Div. I University of Denver Saturday (Jan. 21).

The Mavericks swept both breaststroke events. Josh Bedford won the 100 (57.33), and Ryan Gifford brought home the win the 200 (2:11.25).

CMU’s third individual win came on the one-meter board with Sage D’Ambrosia victorious with a score of 285.50. Noah Macomber was third (272.70).

D’Ambrosia placed second (267.20) and Noah Macomber was third (264.80) on the three-meter.

Mesa opened the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay. Eric Berg, Josh Bedford, Chris Radomski and Sky Hirsch won in a time of 3:27.16.

Josh Bedford finished second in the 100 free (46.79) and third in the 200 individual medley (1:57.59).

Sam Bryant placed third in the 500 (4:52.71) and 1,000 (10:17.04).

The women faced stiff competition from Boise State and Denver.

Mary Saiz finished second in the 200 back (2:02.28) and fourth in the 100 back (56.48). She was sixth in the 50 free (24.31).

The women’s 200 free relay of Marissa Bradley, Megan Sirijariyavat, Sam White and Eryn Leonard finished fifth in a time of 1:40.34.

Hannah Mabile placed eighth in the 100 back (1:01.48), and Eryn Leonard was eighth in the 200 fly (2:13.75). Leonard finished seventh in the 100 fly (58.88).

On the one-meter board, Kelsey Vreeman was sixth (222.35) and Abby Smith was eighth (213.30). Cassie Blakeman (240.95), Brittany Dixon (240.70) and Vreeman finished six-seven-eight on the three-meter.

Sam White finished seventh in the 200 breast (2:28.68) and Miranda Reetz was eighth (2:32.86).

The CMU men lost to DU 203-96.

The CMU women were defeated by Boise State (235-65) and DU (227-71).

Colorado Mesa will compete at the Colorado College Invite Sunday (Jan. 22).

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About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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