Mountain West Conference – Women
- Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18
- Texas A&M Natatorium, College Station, TX (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Nevada (results)
- Live results
- Live Video – Mountain West Network
- Championship Central
The Boise State Broncos have reclaimed the Mountain West title for the first time since 2014, thanks to a sweep of all five conference relay titles.
1650 Free
Top 3 finishers:
- Miller, Air Force – 15:58.06
- Chard, Boise St – 16:17.11
- Rowley, CSU – 16:26.75
Air Force’s Genevieve Miller won the mile for the fourth consecutive year, the second time this meet she’s four-peated an event. Miller was 15:58.06 to become the first Mountain West woman ever under 16 minutes. Miller broke her own conference and meet records of 16:01.39 from last year. She’s now the owner of 2 of the only 3 same-event four-peats in conference history with the 1650 and 500 frees. The only other swimmer to accomplish the feat was Brittany Davis Burk in the 200 backstroke from 2004-2007.
Boise State’s Emma Chard took second, just as she did in the 500 earlier in the week. The 200 free champ a day earlier, Chard was 16:26.75 to help Boise power to a 270-point lead over San Diego.
200 Back
Top 3 finishers:
- Mazutaityte, Fresno St – 1:55.09
- Sheldon, Wyoming – 1:55.76
- Phillips, UNLV – 1:55.92
It was a trio of swimmers from non-traditional Mountain West powers battling for the 200 back title, with Fresno State’s Ugne Mazutaityte successfully defending her 2016 title in 1:55.09. Mazutaityte is just the second Mountain West champ in Fresno State history, having won two 200 back titles. Danielle Yoho won the team’s first title in the 50 free in 2013.
Wyoming’s Kelly Sheldon (1:55.76) was second, just touching out Kyndal Phillips of UNLV. Boise State did manage to take 4th with Abbey Sorensen (1:56.08) and also won the B final with Allyson Kleinsorgen (1:57.01) to maintain a solid team lead.
100 Free
Top 3 finishers:
- Aoyama, Boise St – 48.74
- Martin, Boise St – 48.98
- Murray, Nevada – 49.84
After sweeping the top 3 spots in the 50 free, Boise State took the top two in the 100 free behind Brittany Aoyama‘s 48.74. Senior teammate Katelyn Martin was a close second in 48.98, a reversal of their finish order in the 50 earlier in the week.
Nevada nabbed the next two spots – Rebecca Murray in 49.84 and Teresa Baerens in 49.90 – to push to a very slight lead over San Diego State for second. After the 100 free, the defending conference champ Wolfpack sat just 4 points ahead of San Diego State for runner-up honors.
200 Breast
Top 3 finishers:
- Harutjunjan, Wyoming – 2:11.53
- Carnevale, UNLV – 2:11.89
- Mathis, Boise St – 2:12.35
Wyoming junior Maria Harutjunjan completed her breaststroke sweep with a narrow win in the 200 breast, edging UNLV’s Sofia Carnevale 2:11.53 to 2:11.89. Harutjunjan, a junior, has now won the 100 breast three times straight, but this counts as her first-ever 200 breast title.
Boise State’s Emily Mathis and Laura Williams took third and fourth (2:12.35 and 2:14.45) and in the team battle, Nevada pushed a little further ahead of San Diego State by scoring one swimmer in each of the A and B finals, while San Diego State only had two in the B.
200 Fly
Top 3 finishers:
- Bertrand, New Mexico – 1:59.25
- Berggren, San Diego State – 2:00.28
- Gullick, Fresno State – 2:00.77
Anna Celine Bertrand won New Mexico’s first-ever swimming title at the Mountain West Championships, going 1:59.25 to pace the 200 butterfly. New Mexico has several conference diving titles, but Bertrand becomes the first swimmer ever to top an event. She beat out 2015 MWC champ Frida Berggren’s 2:00.28.
Berggren and San Diego State had a huge event with 3 A finalists. Rachael Kelch was 2:01.19 for 5th and Samantha Guttmacher 2:04.32 for 8th. Along with Summer Harrison‘s win in the B final, those points launched San Diego State into second by 59.5 over Nevada. Boise State still maintained its lead 183 points ahead.
Platform Diving
Top 3 finishers:
- Zheng, Nevada – 298.00
- Contreras, Wyoming – 281.55
- Bishop, Wyoming – 253.50
Nevada’s Sharae Zheng capped a diving title sweep, scoring 298.00 on platform to add to her 1-meter and 3-meter springboard wins. This is the junior Zheng’s first conference sweep after winning the springboard events but losing platform last year.
Wyoming picked up some big points with silver (Karla Contreras) and bronze (Keely Bishop), while Nevada gained a small bit of ground on San Diego State for second.
400 Free Relay
Top 3 finishers:
- Boise State – 3:15.85
- Nevada – 3:18.48
- San Diego State – 3:21.17
Boise State won its third-straight 400 free relay title to conclude the 2017 meet 5-for-5 in relay golds. 100 free champ Brittany Aoyama led off in 48.79, 50 free champ Katelyn Martin was 48.62, sophomore Cody Evans went 49.38 and 200 free champ Emma Chard was 49.06 for the Broncos, who went 3:15.85 and finished just a half-second off their conference record from a year ago.
Nevada was second in 3:18.48, but it wasn’t enough to reel in San Diego State for second as a team. San Diego State finished third in the relay and landed just about 50 points back of Nevada in team points
Final Team Scores:
- Boise State – 1390
- San Diego State – 1139
- Nevada – 1089.5
- Wyoming – 1004
- Colorado State – 791
- New Mexico – 697
- Fresno State – 524
- UNLV – 520
- San Jose State – 496.5
- Air Force – 479
Dominant performance by your relays, it was fun to watch. Good luck to your swimmers, a good group of young ladies. I wish them well, and success at NCAA’s.