Colorado State vs Colorado School of Mines (W)
- January 17, 2020
- Golden, Colorado
- Results
Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics
GOLDEN, Colo. – In a sport where breathing is pretty much discouraged, a lack of oxygen is absolutely no fun.
Freshmen roommates Katelyn Bartley and Amanda Hoffman would trudge back to their dorm room after a workout and console each other. Bartley, a Texan, and Hoffman, from North Carolina, had their (un)welcome to training at altitude.
“We came back a few times from practice, and we were just getting to know (assistant coach) Lisa Ginder and her sets and adjusting to altitude,” said Hoffman, one of seven true freshman in the lanes for Colorado State’s women’s swimming and diving roster. “We would just be like, ‘oh my God, we can’t do this.’ Then we’d be like, ‘we can do this, it’s just going to take a little while.'”
Head coach Christopher Woodard understood as much, but over time, he’s seen their ability to train, recover and adjust better, allowing them to perform in a manner the Rams needed. The seven of them account for a quarter of the swimming roster, so they have to be factors now.
With Friday’s 135-68 dual victory over the Colorado School of Mines, the proof is starting to show. The Rams won eight of the 11 events competed, with Hoffman and Bartley both posting victories. As a whole, the class added depth to the scoring column and factored in the relays.
Hoffman won the 200-yard butterfly for the second meet in row (2:06.34), also placing third in the 500 freestyle. Bartley notched her first collegiate victory in the 200 backstroke (2:07.42) and took second in the 400 individual medley. Hannah Sykes and Caroline Perry had a pair of top-three finishes, while Sydnee Whitty took third in the 50 free.
The adjustment is no joke, but they are starting to get a hang of it, especially when bouncing from sea level to Colorado, which they’ve done in the past week in winning a trio of duals.
“Definitely the first two weeks was an adjustment,” Bartley said. “Basically, two to three weeks. After we got past that, it got a little bit easier coming back and forth between going back home and coming back up. It’s getting easier, but it’s still hard and you can feel it. I think it helps in the long run.”
Woodard is counting on that being fact. He knows race strategy had to be altered, cores and legs made stronger for the back-half of races. That had to come first to have them ready for what’s next.
For him, the long run means 33 days from now at the Mountain West Championships, as well as two, three years into the future.
“I think the only thing that’s held them back as a class has been injury and illness. Otherwise, their ears are open, they’re absorbing the information and they’re pushing the pace in training. I think the sky’s the limit for them when we rest.
“It’s hard not to look that far in advance, because we still have to take care of Northern Colorado and we have conference, but seeing how they rest and how they respond to a championship meet, that will be more telling. Once that’s over, you start to look, you start to project. Who are we bringing in, what are we losing, what does that look like for next year at conference or midseason. It’s definitely hopeful. I’m optimistic.”
Hoffman and Bartley haven’t been immune to bugs, and for Hoffman, an ailing shoulder has been part of her norm for nearly a decade. She knows how to baby it through a warmup on the bad days, and Woodard is trying to manage her training in the process.
For the class, it’s part of finding their place on the team and matching their expectations with those of the program.
“I feel like we’re starting to make an impact on the team and find our place in it,” Bartley said. “We’re starting to establish ourselves, then try to make an impact scoring points and getting the team a higher place at whatever meet we’re at.”
The upperclassmen most certainly did their share of the heavy lifting as the Rams went 1-2 in seven races, 1-2-3 in four. Marie Goodwyn won the 400 IM (4:37.47), Julia Box the 50 free (24.55), Abbey Owenby the 1,650 free (17:51.73), Kristina Friedrichs the 100 free (53.59) and Maddie Ward the 200 breaststroke (final results were listed wrong).
What Woodard liked was the effort and push from the squad for a second consecutive week after break.
“More than anything else, sometimes swimmers can get into that tunnel vision and feel the pressure and get anxious, and for the most part, they’re starting to roll with, OK, we’re pretty good, let’s start to take some risks,” Woodard said. “Let’s see this as an opportunity rather than as a burden. Some of those races can seem like a burden, especially those kids who swim the 1,650, the 500 and the 400 IM. I think they’re approaching it from a different mindset.”
Mines has no diving program, but four CSU divers made the trip anyway. As the program has been known to do in the past, they’ve allowed divers to compose a relay at a meet, but normally, it’s the 200 freestyle relay.
Friday that wasn’t available, but the 400 version was, and the quad of Jessica Albanna, Halley Buhlig, McKenna O’Reilly and Skylar Williams gave it a shot. They laughed, they encouraged and by the end of the race, the entire team was backing them. Even some Rams who finished legs for their relay were behind their blocks for Williams’ anchor leg.
“That was the best part of my season so far, I think,” Hoffman said. “It was just so fun for all of us to be like, you’ve got this divers. They’ve been asking us questions all day about, what happens if you do this and can you do that. It was something to look forward to at the end of the meet, and we’re so proud of our divers. I mean, we can’t even get up on the board and they’re out there doing a whole relay.”
It wasn’t always pretty. They may be able to do a twist with a double flip, but flip turns were a foreign concept to a most of them. They also found out 100 yards is a long way when you don’t train, so a few of them became creative, earning style points in Bartley’s critique.
“Maybe they shouldn’t have turned on their back, but it’s fine, I get it,” she said with a laugh. “I would totally do that if I could. If Woody wouldn’t get mad at me, I would.”
For the record, he would. And the way the freshmen are performing, there’s no reason to ruin a good thing.
Courtesy: Colorado School of Mines Athletics
GOLDEN, Colo. – Mia Wood snapped the pool record in the 200-freestyle to lead Colorado School of Mines in their final dual meet of the season against Colorado State.
The Division I Rams won the meet 135-68 as the Orediggers were in their final tune-up before RMAC Championships in February.
Wood won both the 200- and 500-freestyle events to lead the Orediggers, wrapping up an unbeaten regular season in the latter. Wood started with a 1:53.96 victory in the 200-free to set the pool record by nearly a second, then swan 5:11.93 in the 500-free to win.
Among Mines’ highlights elsewhere, Olivia Lomax was the 100-free runner-up in 54.87
Meghan Slowey topped the Orediggers in the 1650-free in 18:25.84 for third, April Wood was third in the 200-free (1:58.69), Amanda Blickensderfer took third in the 200-breaststroke, and Madeleine Oakley was fourth in the 400-IM (4:49.71).
Colorado State set two natatorium records in the 400-medley relay (3:55.54) and the 200-fly (Amanda Hoffman, 2:06.34).
