2023 Colorado Mesa Intermountain Shootout
- September 29-30, 2023
- Grand Junction, Colo.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Full Results
- Team Scores
Courtesy: Colorado Mesa Athletics
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving teams combined to defeat three NCAA Division I opponents while the Maverick women knocked off a Power 5 conference member for the first time in program history on a stellar day of performances at the Intermountain Shootout, which wrapped up Saturday here at the El Pomar Natatorium.
The Maverick women went 3-1 in head-to-head dual scores against the other four teams, out-pointing BYU of the Big XII Conference for the first time. The Mavs also defeated Division I Air Force 224-186 to knock off the Falcons for the first time in 21 all-time dual meetings and extended their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual-meet winning streak of more than seven years to 34 with a 345-57 drubbing of CSU Pueblo.
The Mavs fell just short (206-198) of Pac 12 Utah as the duals with BYU and Utah came down to the final event, which saw the Mavs take second in the 400 free relay between Utah and BYU, one of ten second place and 19 top-3 women’s performances throughout meet, nine of which came on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Maverick men blasted Air Force 307-102 but fell short to BYU (253 ½-146 ½) and Utah (227-176). They Mavs were once again led by Ben Sampson, who won all five of his individual events throughout the two days, including the 200-yard individual medley and 200 back on Saturday, both of which were done with NCAA Division II Championship provisional or “B Cut” times.
The Maverick women also had three such times while divers Jenna Hurley and Isaiah Cheeks both set NCAA qualifying scores in 11-dive women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter competitions, respectively.
Sophomores Maddi Moran and Ada Qunell led the Maverick women as each won events on Saturday.
Moran took the 50 breaststroke in 29.66 seconds before coming back to take second in the 200-yard discipline with a time of 2:22.71. She also teamed with Katerina Matoskova, Kiara Borchardt and Qunell for a third place finish in the 200 medley relay, which saw the Mavs touch third in 1:44.88, just 0.04 behind Utah, a result that eventually would have reversed the overall dual against the Utes.
Meanwhile, Qunell set a NCAA “B” cut time of 52.01 (51.91-altitide adjusted) to win the 100 free before clocking a lead-off split of 52.02 to help the Maverick 400 free relay team to finish second in 3:30.28, a result that gave the Mavs the overall team win over BYU as the Cougars took third in 3:30.49. Utah’s top squad finished in 3:27.36 to secure the event and dual win.
Matoskova, who led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 free on Friday, also turned in another NCAA “B” time of 2:03.89 (2:02.69-converted) to place third in the 200 back while sophomore Olivia Hansson had yet another “B” cut time of 5:05.95 (5:00.95-converted), her third of the weekend, to finish fourth in the 500 free.
Freshman Amber Siverts and fifth-year senior transfer Benedict Nagy also turned in impressive runner-up performances to help the Mavs in their history-making day. Siverts turned in a 200 fly time of 2:07.84 (2:06.64-coverted) and moved into the No. 8 spot of CMU history with what was CMU’s fastest time in the event since the 2021 RMAC Championships.
Meanwhile, Nagy took fourth in that event with a time of 2:09.18 (2:07.98) to just miss out on a spot on the updated top-10 performers list in program history. Matoskova was also fifth in the event, touching in 2:10.65.
Nagy also finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.60 (2:06.40-converted), again just missing out of a spot in the Maverick all-time top-10 by just 0.07 seconds.
In the diving well, Hurley, a freshman out of Southlake, Texas, scored 401.75 points to break up a 1-5 BYU sweep while surpassing her first career NCAA Championship qualifying standard (390.00).
Cheeks also finished second in the men’s 3-meter event, scoring 506.00 points to register his second NCAA qualifying score in as many days.
Elsewhere, Sampson won the 200 IM in 1:51.19 (1:49.99-converted) before winning his fifth event of the meet in the 200 back with a time of 1:47.35 (1:46.15-converted). He set four NCAA “B” times during the weekend.
Sampson also teamed with Kuba Kiszczak, Dejan Urbanek and Jameson McEnaney for a second place time of 1:29.10 in the 200 medley relay while Kiszczak had a third place time of 45.83 in the 100 free.
The Maverick men totaled 13 top-3 finishes throughout the meet, five of which came on Saturday.
The Mavericks will continue their season next Saturday competing at the Denver Relays.
Courtesy: BYU Athletics
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — BYU swim and dive totaled seven more event wins as the Intermountain Shootout concluded at El Pomar Natatorium on Saturday afternoon.
“Our athletes brought incredible energy to this meet,” said BYU swimming head coach Shari Skabelund. “I am pleased with the progress they’re making and momentum they’re carrying into the season after a solid summer of training.”
The BYU men won both of their dual matchups, topping Air Force 316.50-90.50 and beating Colorado Mesa 253.50-146.50. BYU women’s swim and dive overcame Air Force 229-181 and CSU Pueblo by a score of 343-57. Host Colorado Mesa, however, edged the Cougars 208-202.
Jordan Tiffany won his third event in two days and nearly broke a second school record in Grand Junction. Tiffany clocked 47.11 to take first in the 100 fly and tie Jorge Azevedo (2008) for second all-time at BYU. Javier Nicolas Matta (2022) holds the program’s 100 fly record at 46.40. Tony Puertas joined Tiffany on the 100 fly podium after finishing third at 49.62.
Tiffany, Puertas, Brad Prolo and true freshman Joshua Reed combined to clock 1:28.49, winning the men’s 200 medley relay over Colorado Mesa and Utah. Prolo built on his relay success with a winning time of 1:50.22 in the 200 fly. Luigi Riva and Reed finished one-two in the 100 free with times of 45.59 and 45.75, respectively.
Mickey Strauss completed his sweep of the meet’s men’s diving events as he posted a 513.05 in the 3-meter. BYU freshman Russell Haws took fourth at 479.85.
BYU women’s diving dominated the 1-meter competition with Alexia Jackson scoring 444.95 to finish first. Sophia DeBergh took third at 398.70 and Aubryn Ordyna fourth at 376.40.
Regan Geldmacher and Victoria Schreiber finished first and second, respectively, in the 500 free. Geldmacher came in at 5:01.96 while Schreiber cut nearly three seconds off her personal best with a time of 5:03.64.
Abi Furqueron finished third in the women’s 50 breast at 29.95, improving on her previous best of 30.81 set at the Intermountain Shootout a season ago. With her 50 breast performance on Saturday, Furqueron surpassed Londyn Clawson (2011) for No. 9 all-time at BYU.
After a week off, Cougar swim and dive returns to action with a dual meet at TCU on Oct. 13 in Forth Worth, Texas.
Courtesy: Utah Athletics
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Jaek Horner posted two first place finishes and the University of the Utah swim team collected eight individual wins and five team triumphs on Saturday on day two of the CMU Intermountain Shootout, which was held inside the El Pomar Natatorium in Grand Junction, Colo.
“We had a good meet,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “There were some really good swims and some swims that people can learn from. We dealt with a little pressure today and we still performed well and I’m happy with how the team responded. It’s really promising for us moving forward that we know the team can swim in those situations. It’s going to be a good next phase of the fall, starting Monday as we move towards the start of our dual meets.”
Horner made his mark with a pair of excellent performances, first grabbing the top spot in the 50 breaststroke, where his mark of 25.11 bested the field by more than a full second, then he outpaced the field in the 200 breaststroke, clocking in at 2:03.69 to land atop the podium again.
Utah’s first triumph of the afternoon came courtesy of Nick Chirafisi, who earned his second win in as many days by logging a time of 4:31.19 in the 500 freestyle. Also appearing in the winner’s circle for the second straight day were Summer Stanfield, who reached the finish in the 2:05.72 in the 200 individual medley, and Norah Hay, who outswam the competition in the 200 backstroke to the tune of a 2:00.04 mark. Krystal Lieu picked up her first victory of the year, taking first in the women’s 200 breaststroke by finishing in 2:21.98.
The Utes finished the day with back-to-back relay triumphs, as Erin Palmer, Stanfield, Maddie Woznick and Lily Milner took the women’s 400 free relay with a time of 3:27.36 and Will Woodall, Ethan Smith, Matthew Dedering and Evan VanBrocklin clocked in at 2:59.85 to nab first in the men’s 400 free relay.
Utah ended the day with three meet victories on the women’s side, topping the Air Force Academy, 216.50-187.50, besting Colorado State 312-57 and defeating Colorado Mesa 206-198. Utah’s men’s squad knocked off the Air Force Academy, 304-100 and triumphed over CMU, 227-176.
Looking Ahead
The Utes will now shift their focus to an Oct. 7 dual meet against the LSU Tigers that will begin at 10 a.m.
