Wyoming Beats Colorado State By 19 Points To Remain Undefeated On The Season

Wyoming vs. Colorado State

• November 8, 2024
• Fort Collins, CO
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Full Results 

Courtesy: Wyoming Athletics

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (11/8/24) – The University of Wyoming women’s swimming and diving team defeated long-time rival Colorado State this evening, 159.5-140.5. The atmosphere inside EPIC pool in Fort Collins was electric and the competition was intense throughout the meet.

This Cowgirl swim and dive team is really proving to be something special and a true force to be reckoned with.  After the win against CSU, Wyoming remains undefeated against not only their front range opponents, but on the entire season as well. Head Coach Dave Denniston knows just how special his team is, and he’s eager for everyone else to take notice as well.

“First and foremost, I think that everyone that’s involved with Wyoming athletics knows that by and large we’ve struggled with a lot of different teams this year, but this women’s team is something special that people really need to start paying attention to. They’re undefeated on the season and they fought like hell today to win,” Denniston said.

While the usual standouts for Wyoming all had solid outings against CSU, Denniston shared the praise amongst his athletes.

Denniston said, “We had inspired swims from people like Sophie Nutter, who just swam out of her mind. Abigail Bruss tried to do the 200 IM for us and while she didn’t win, she put her heart into it after winning the 200 butterfly. Tara Joyce once again put everything she had in the pool. And then our fifth year Kali Franckowiak got up and raced a good 100 butterfly and was on that relay at the end to win it for us.”

The Cowgirl divers also did extremely well against the Rams, proving to be a key part of this program and the success they’ve had so far.

“So, across the board really really great, but speaking of boards, I think the reason we won this meet was because of diving,” Denniston said. “To go one and two on both boards and to pick up that fifth spot by Madelynn Appelhans on the 1-meter, that’s what really sealed the deal for us. This was a full team effort and it’s something to be really proud of and I’m proud of this team.”

Macey Hansen took first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:11.96.

Joyce came in first place in the 200-yard freestyle, going 1:51.02.

Brynlee Busskohl turned in a first-place performance in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes, going 1:03.41 and 2:18.37 respectively.

Bruss took first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.09.

Alicia Gonzalez swept the boards, scoring 312.53 on the 1-meter springboard and 330.15 on the 3-meter springboard.

Wyoming also took first in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:24.87, comprising of Avery True, Veronika Ozimek, Kali Franckowiak and Joyce.

Wyoming swim and dive are back in the pool November 20-23, with swim heading to the Colorado Mesa Invite and dive competing at the Southern Methodist University Invitational.

Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics

FORT COLLINS  – The matchup is what one would hope against the key rival, and the stars were going to have to shine.

Even then, Colorado State coach Christopher Woodard knew that alone wouldn’t be enough with Wyoming in town. The Cowgirls have stars too. It was going to be the work into the wall to earn those key final points for third, fourth and fifth to tip the scales. With both teams winning eight of the 16 events at Edora Pool Ice Center, it’s exactly the way the dual played out with the Cowgirls claiming a 159.5-140.5 victory on Friday afternoon.

Lexie Trietley would win two races. So would Tess Whineray. Erin Dawson came from behind to win one, and so did Azalea Shepherd. Maisy Barbosa was part of two 1-2 finishes, first training Whineray in the 100 back, then outpacing teammate Dawson in the 200-yard individual medley. The good vibes started off with a victorious opening event, the 200 medley relay.

But the race to the wall in the trailing positions was more often than not won by the Cowgirls.

“We’re going to have to face some tough realities. We can only go to the well with our top-tier swimmers so many times, and they are coming through, absolutely coming through,” Woodard said. “That’s not to disrespect any of those kids who are second, third for fourth position, but the demand on them is going to be higher. We can’t win an event and then come in fifth. We have to put out some more depth in some of those events.

“We have very, very capable athletes, and I know they can be there. Unfortunately, in some situations, they weren’t there today.”

The Rams fell to 1-3 in duals this season, the most dual losses since going 1-4 in the pandemic-altered season of 2020-21.

What Woodard witnessed from Dawson and Shepherd in their wins – both coming from behind in the final 25 to hit the wall first, he wants to see duplicated further down the line. In nine of the 14 individual events, it was the guest who scored in three spots.

“That’s what we need more consistently from more members of the team,” Woodard said. “We know it’s there. They all train together. We need it on a more consistent basis. Those are inspiriting races.”

Dawson has won a race in similar fashion two meets in a row as she’s still gaining her lungs after being stalled at the start of he season by an illness which kept her out of the water. Who she chased down was part of the excitement.

Macey Hansen had earlier won the 1,000 freestyle, and the Wyoming youngster holds the top times in both the 1,000 and 1,650 frees in the conference at this point, ranking fifth in the 500. She did it by out-splitting her in the final six 100s, but didn’t pass her until late in the race.

“It was rough being out, but honestly, I think it lights a fire under me. Seeing the times I’m going this early in the season is super cool, especially being out,” Dawson said. “It does make me excited. I think about it all the time in practice. OK, if I’m going this fast at the beginning of the season and keep working this hard, imagine how much better I’ll be at the end of the season.”

Dawson battled with Wyoming’s Tara Joyce – the defending conference champ in the 200 free – in that race, taking second to the  Wyoming standout by .20. Her teammate Lexie Trietley faced off with Joyce twice, both in the 50 and 100 frees.

Trietley is a competitor who is always keyed up on race day. Put her next to a formidable foe and she’ll take note.

“Yeah, I think I just came into this meet without any expectations, no pressure, just because I’ve been sick this week,” Trietley said. “I just didn’t let that stop me. I think that it fueled me even more that I have been sick. It’s not a disadvantage and I can still hang, and I won both my races, best times this season. My 50 split in the relay was really good. I’ve been happy, and same with how I did last week not suiting up.

“Honestly, I was a little surprised when I saw (Joyce) in the 50. That was a bold move by their coach. I knew she wouldn’t beat me in the 50, but I knew the 100 could have been a different story. I’m just really happy with how I pushed and how I didn’t let her win.”

Like Dawson, Trietley is happy with the arc of the times she’s posting. Barbosa’s resurgence after a year of coming back from injury has been inspiring, as she was top three in all of her events, each a bit different. In the 200 IM, she went out fast and held on to the lead throughout.

With a roster of just 19 healthy swimmers, the Rams need help across the board, and they feel it’s there. Bringing it out is the next step.

“We talk a lot about winning the deck. Obviously, it’s a lot harder with a smaller roster, but honestly, having a small roster, I’ve never seen this team put up so much fight and passion,” Dawson said. “It’s having a little community, and us as captains, we push winning the deck. Woody just talked to us about the touch-outs, and it was almost like a wake-up call. Maybe we have to stay after practice and work on finishes, work on trends to get that one extra push.”