Colorado State vs Denver (W)
- Friday, October 28, 2022
- Denver, Colo.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: Colorado State 152, Denver 148
Courtesy: CSU Athletics
DENVER, Colo. – At the end, it required everything they had.
To keep its unbeaten dual streak going, Colorado State women’s swimming and diving had to have a win in Friday’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. To avoid a tie, the Rams needed both quads to score points. Getting separating splits from Anika Johnson and Alexis Trietley to win the race, and then more of the same on the ‘B’ squad, the Rams overcame a five-point deficit to post the tightest finish in their current run with a 152-148 victory at Denver.
“That’s when I know my team is in it, when they keep asking me what the score is,” CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said. “They knew what they had to do pretty much throughout the meet. The gutted out some great wins, and there were some great fourth- and fifth-place finishes as well to keep us within range. The relays, they were ready to go. They were super pumped, and when the B relay touched third, that’s when everybody erupted. We needed that or otherwise it would be a tie.”
It was the 17th consecutive dual win for the program, which began last year with a perfect 14-0 mark. The score with the Pioneers matched the result with Wyoming last season, but the Rams led going into the final race on that date.
Lucy Matheson helped pace the effort out front, winning all three of her individual races, both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, as well as the 100 butterfly. None of her events were particularly close, but it was her approach which struck Woodard.
“Lucy tends to get a little anxious and likes to talk and go over race strategy. I think this is one of the few times where she didn’t approach me at all,” he said. “She felt like she was really in control of what she needed to do. What impressed me the most was, yeah, she got out, but she took control of the back half of the race. She was doggedly determined no one was going to touch her.”
Overall, Colorado State won nine of the 16 events, with Trietley a double winner in the 50 and 100 freestyles in times which were very close to those she posted at the season-opening Chick-fil-A Invitational.
She closed her day with the best split in the final relay, a 50.03.
“She’s a hammer and every problem in front of her is a nail, and lucky for us, she’s a ball peen hammer; she has some weight behind her,” Woodard said. “She just crushes it. She sees open water and takes off. If she sees somebody in front of her, she’s like, no, that’s not going to happen. Her fight continues to impress me. Her adaptation to the workload continues to impress me.
“But it really was a joint effort. All the freestylers up and down the line, our 200 strokers, were fantastic. This is the definition of a total team effort.”
Johnson, whose 51.71 split in the 400 relay was the second-best of the event, won the 200 free, with Maya White taking top honors in the 1,000 free. In the 50 free, there was the odd three-way tie for third, with Sarah Mundy and Azalea Shepherd part of the equation.
The final win came from Amanda Hoffman, whose 2:02.74 in the 200 butterfly was her best in-season time and very much in the neighborhood of her best, which sits fourth in program history. Making her day better, she produced a third-place showing in the 100 version of the event.
“I would wager to say it’s in the top six of the conference at this time,” Woodard said of Hoffman’s 200. “She knows how to race that, but what’s even more impressive is sometimes she can struggle in the 100, but it was her ability to come back and light that one up too.”
The team’s depth made a difference in the final result. The divers took part in a dual for the first time, with Jessica Albanna placing second on the 3-meter board, while Braeden Shaffer and Jozie Meitz, both of whom have been struggling with injuries, added points in the two diving events.
Erin Dawson had a pair of runner-up showings (500 free and 200 individual medley), Johnson was right behind Trietley in the 100 free and Katie McClelland was second in the 200 breast and third in the 100 breast. The meet opened with Matheson, McClelland, Johnson and Trietley placing second in the 200 medley relay. Getting depth points was key, and the Rams did their part.
But in the end, they needed both relay teams to score, making the deck tense with the final start. As the top team, which included Megan Hager and Mundy, did it’s part, senior Liza Lunina put up a strong lead-off leg for her squad, and the three who followed her — Shepherd, Kendra Preski and Leigha O’Connor — all put up splits DU’s second squad couldn’t match.
“It feels pretty good,” Woodard said. “What we talked about in our post-meet meeting was wins tend to smooth things over, but they don’t make them disappear, our little issues. But I think they tend to put us in the mood where we’re more open and vulnerable with each other and more appreciative of each other. My hope is to have another undefeated season, and everybody leaves with a smile on their face.
“People that don’t always see each other in training, they’re on deck together and high-fiving and encouraging each other. They’re willing to lay it down for each other.”
Friday, there was no other option.
Courtesy: Denver Athletics
DENVER – The University of Denver women’s swimming and diving program fell to Colorado State 152-148 in its final dual of the academic quarter on Friday evening at El Pomar Natatorium.
Diving Highlights:
Zora Opalka earned her first of two wins on the afternoon with a 288.68 on the 3-meter board. Opalka’s score was good enough for her first NCAA Zone Cut of the season.
Opalka completed the diving sweep with a 273.38 on the 1-meter board, earning her second zone cut of the day. Kaelyn Hinesley earned her second 1-meter dive cut of the campaign with a 268.13 to take second. Olivia Gordon made it a podium sweep with a 1-meter NCAA Zone cut of her own, scoring 267.15 to take third in the meet.
Swimming Highlights:
Denver opened the swimming portion of the meet with a 1:43.12 in the 200 medley relay to take the top spot. Ali Beay, Jessica Maeda, Mia Moulden and Erika Remington combined for the Denver A-Relay.
Angie Lindsay and Nika Spehar finished 2-3 in the first distance race of the day, the 1000 free. Lindsay reached the final wall in 10:37.70, while Spehar finished the 1000 free in 10:38.48.
Beay and Haley Chesno took second and third in the 100 back with times of 57.38 and 58.39, respectively.
Maeda and Sophia Bricker took the top two spots in the 100 breast. Maeda reached the wall in 1:02.58 and Bricker clocked in at 1:03.38.
Moulden and Daniela Alfaro got second and third with times of 2:03.04 and 2:05.01 to give Denver seven points in the 200 fly.
Remington took second in the 50 free sprint with a 23.84.
Mina Ada Solaker led the Pioneers in the women’s 200 back, taking second with a 2:05.52.
Maeda completed her sweep of the breaststroke races and earned her third event win of the day with a 2:16.90 in the 200.
Denver made it back-to-back event wins when Alfaro won the final distance race of the night with a 5:05.48.
Maeda continued her hot start to the season with win number four on Friday, taking the 200 IM in 2:05.15.
Friday Event Wins
Ali Beay, Jessica Maeda, Mia Moulden and Erika Remington – 200 Medley Relay – 1:43.12
Jessica Maeda – 100 Breast – 1:02.58
Zora Opalka – 3-Meter Dive – 288.68
Jessica Maeda – 200 Breast – 2:16.90
Daniela Alfaro – 500 Free – 5:05.48
Zora Opalka – 1-Meter – 273.38
Jessica Maeda – 200 IM – 2:05.15
UP NEXT:
Denver will take the month of November off before heading to New Jersey for the 2022 Big Al Invite, hosted by Princeton.
