Wyoming v. Colorado State v. Washington State
- Saturday, November 9, 2019
- Laramie, Wyoming
- Results
Courtesy: Wyoming Athletics
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 9, 2019) – The Wyoming swimming and diving teams closed out the weekend with a split on Saturday in its double dual meet with conference foe Colorado State and Washington State. The Cowgirls (5-2 overall, 2-1 MW) recorded a solid 202-151 victory over the Rams but dropped a tough one, 181-166, against the Cougars.
Friday night the Cowgirls would get the meet off to solid start, competing in both in both the 1 and 3- meter diving events and ten swimming competitions. Saturday would only consist of nine swimming events.
In the 200 medley relay, the team of freshman Emily Giles, sophomore Phoebe Browne, junior Hannah Mclean-Leonard and sophomore Sani Carsrud got it started for the Cowgirls with a first place finish and a time of 1:45.36. Junior Katelyn Blattner, sophomores Andrea Niemann and Kira Crane plus senior Kiana Junior would take fourth with a time of 1:47.01.
“I thought our relays really performed above what our expectations where and they did a nice job both at the beginning and end of the meet on Friday.” head coach Dave Denniston said. “Our divers coming away with the top spot in both boards was also a huge boost for our team and program.”
In the next event, it would be a one-two finish for the Cowgirls. Senior Daniela Luna Rocha led the way with a first place finish in the 1650 freestyle clocking a final time of 17:32.47. Freshman Olivia Staver would place second with a time of 18:00.08 while senior Astrid Iturbe had a time of 18:04.70 for a fourth place finish.
The Cowgirls would get their next one-two finish in the 200 freestyle led by a solid performance from sophomore Lainee Jones who clocked a season-best time of 1:51.75. Blattner would follow closely behind in second with a time of 1:53.37.
The Cowgirls would end Friday night with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Blattner, Carsrud, Jones and Mclean-Leonard would out touch both Washington State and Colorado State to take the win in a season-best time of 3:30.53.
In the 3-meter event, it would be a very strong outing for the Cowgirls. It would be led by freshman Melissa Mirafuentes who would win the event with a score of 348.68. It was not only a career-best mark, but it’s the third best score all-time in school history. Redshirt junior Karla Contreras and sophomore McKenna Houlihan would place second and third in the event with scores of 320.63 and 251.18, respectively. Senior Abigail Zoromski would finish sixth with a final score of 233.33 and Makena Sanger finished in tenth with a mark of 183.60.
In the 1-meter, it would be more of the same as Contreras would take the top spot with a score 284.63. Mirafuentes would finish in a very close second tallying a total of 284.40, which was a career-best. Houlihan placed in fifth recording a score of 219.60. Zoromski and Sanger would finish seventh and ninth with scores of 197.70 and 182.10, respectively.
On Saturday, the 400-yard medley team of Blattner, sophomores Niemann, Avery Otto-Horn and Carsrud touched the wall in a time of 3:53.28 to begin the competition. Staver followed up her 1,000 freestyle performance with a time of 5:15.20 in the 500 free to place fourth.
“I felt that Katelyn (Blattner) and Emily (Giles) really took control of the competition for us today 400 medley relay then coming back a few events later to compete individually in the backstroke,” Denniston added. “Hannah (Mclean-Leonard) continues to be a hammer for us and reliable in the butterfly events. Her win was a big boost for us. We had good energy from the team, but the first time with two sessions back to back I thought we maybe came out a little flat this morning. Overall, the environment and culture of this team is at a high level, fun to be around and we need to translate that to winning results in the pool.”
Blattner had another strong showing with a first place performance and a season-best time of 2:01.44 in the 200 backstroke. Giles touched the wall in a time of 2:07.76 for a fourth place spot on the podium.
In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Phoebe Browne recorded a season-best time of 1:05.15 for a second place finish as did fellow sophomore Rylie Pilon to place fifth in 1:07.84.
Mclean-Leonard continued her strong showing in the 100 butterfly with a top place finish and time of 55.94.Carsrud recorded a second place finish in the 100 freestyle with a season-best time of 52.92.
Washington State would hold a six point lead, 168-162 over the Cowgirls headed into the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay. It was a real battle and came down to the very last touch. Wyoming would place third in the event with a time of 1:36.44.
Both men’s and women’s program will be back in action on Friday to host the Corbett Invite. Friday’s events are set to begin at 4 p.m. MT while Saturday is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Coaches have to be able to adjust, which is what Christopher Woodard has had to do consistently this season, one which is barely a month old.
There were old injuries to contend with, new ones to counter and it seems somebody on his roster is going to walk into the pool daily with an illness of some sort. There have been situations away from the pool for some members of the Colorado State women’s swimming and diving team to contend with, too.
So all he asked of his team on the second day of the weekend’s double dual with Wyoming and Washington State at Laramie High School was to fight, to battle, to be whatever their peak was this given day.
“I think they fought to the best of their ability today, but I’m going to expect a lot more out of them at conference,” he said. “We’re going to battle with health issues throughout the fall, so it’s going to incumbant upon us to train through the holiday breaks, keep our attitudes together and really start crushing it when we come back.”
The Rams dropped both duals – 214.50-132.50 to the Cougars; 202-151 to the Cowgirls – with one more competition before the holidays.
The butterfly continues to be a strong event, as Julia Box, Jennae Frederick and Amanda Hoffman finished 2-3-5 in the 100-yard fly, day after Box won the 200. Box was also second in the 50 free, just a touch ahead of teammate Sydnee Whitty.
Those were the best individual finishes for the team, but the close was strong for the Rams. Marie Goodwyn took third in the 400 individual medley, the first crack the team has had at the event this season.
She knows the sport can be stressful, but the senior is really needing the pool to be an oasis for her this season, and she feels it working. It’s helped her escape, and even though her attempt was painful, it still felt wonderful.
“I was excited about the opportunity, especially before a prelims-finals setting. It didn’t feel very good, but it felt nice to be able to step up on the blocks and swim for the team,” she said. “I felt like I was able to hold on to the strength of my stroke a lot more and pay attention to the fine details. We so 400 IMs at practice, but typically those are repeats and it’s easy to get lost in the details.”
One of a very important note did not evade her coach – she had a smile on her face as she climbed out of the tank.
Woodard knows when Goodwyn is enjoying the work and the sport, her confidence and results shoot skyward.
“That’s the key to her success. If she feels happy and confident, then she’ll start to move. I think more than anything else I see technically, she’s starting to regain her underwaters, and that’s kind of what she’s known for. If she can push those underwaters in a 400 IM, that’s a great sign.”
Another one was simply seeing Maddie Ward in the water. Coming off a pair of offseason surgeries, the holder of three school records was given a host of options, the main one to redshirt. She crossed that off immediately, setting a goal to be in the water for this meet.
Even though she knew she wouldn’t be at her best, she wasn’t happy with her races, but admitted even the competitor in her has to be realistic.
“It’s hard to go from winning a Mountain West championship to barely being able to finish a 200 breaststroke,” Ward said. “I mean, I’m glad to be able to compete. Now I know what I have to work on, so I think it’s better to be here.
“After this weekend, I know my technique isn’t there, especially after not swimming breaststroke for six months. I really need to start from square one, and that’s really hard for me, to go back 10 steps. It’s all about technique.”
She placed seventh in the 100 breast on Saturday, with teammate Kate Meunier taking fourth. Where she saw flaws in her form, Woodard also came away with hope for what’s possible when the calendar flips to February.
“I was encouraged from the simple standpoint that I know she’ll suffer through the pain, so I never worry about her being able to handle that,” he said. “I worry more about how it’s going to affect her stroke technique, and for the most part, I felt it really held together really well. I’m more encouraged, and she went to a two-day meet and swam four events and held up with the technique, because it’s been awhile since she’s been able to swim.”
The Rams also produced a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay, coming in at 1:36.42, highlighting the potential he feels the event holds for his squad, with the foursome bookended by a pair of freshmen.
None of the Rams were thrilled to trail on the scoreboard, but as they exited for home, they packed with them the idea better days are definitely ahead. They’re starting to believe the worst is in the rearview mirror.
“I feel confident in the heart that we’re all bringing, and just the spirit everyone has for each other,” Goodwyn said. “I think this season has been hard. There’s been a lot of road blocks, outside of the pool especially, and it felt like today everyone stopped carrying about those.”
Courtesy: Washington State Athletics
LARAMIE, Wyo. – WSU battled back from a 40 point deficit to beat Wyoming 181-166 and pulled away from Colorado State to win 214.5-132.5. The Cougars filled the scoreboard with multiple finishes in the top three, many of those being first place wins.
The Cougars started the meet off on a high note notching a win in the 400 medley relay coming from the team of Kate Laderoute, Lauren Burckel, Mia Zahab, and Keiana Fountaine. In the very next event, the 500 free, senior Ryan Falk notched her second first place win in this event while Michee van Rooyen came in behind her for a second place finish.
Those two wins at the start of the day fueled WSU to notch five more wins throughout the event. The next two wins coming back to back in the form of junior Chloe Larson in the 50 free and sophomore Lauren Burckel in the 100 breast, with junior Mackenzie Duarte dropping her in season best time by one second to place third in the 100 breast.
Washington State never looked back plowing through the last four events. Fountaine notching an individual win under her belt in the 100 free and Larson secured a third place finish with a new personal in season best time. Leading the charge in the 100 fly sophomore Sophia Balmaceda finished fourth place overall to keep WSU rolling.
The last two events equaled success for the Cougars with a first place win from junior Taylor McCoy, a second place win from Laderoute and a fourth place finish from Burckel all in 400 IM. Just like the day before WSU ended today in the winning column coming from the team of Larson, Emily Barrier, Paige Gardner, and Fountaine in the 200 free relay.
“Coming into today we knew it was going to be an uphill battle with a little mismanagement of the meet having both of the board events going yesterday. We knew going in CSU and Wyoming weren’t going to have any help from diving so the key was to win not only the individual events but also the relays” said Coach Matt Leach “There was so much energy on the pool deck from the Cougars along with the fans up in the stands, it was a lot of fun. It was great to get a win in Wyoming and we cannot wait for Houston.”
