A voting panel comprised of the 10 Mountain West head women’s swimming & diving coaches chose Boise State as the favorite to win the 2014 MW championship title, edging out defending champion San Diego State by three points. The Broncos collected six first-place votes and 78 total points, while San Diego State was selected to finish second with 75 points and claimed four first-place votes. Wyoming and newcomer San José State are expected to provide the biggest challenge to the top contenders. The Cowgirls collected 62 points for third place, just ahead of the Spartans in fourth with 57 points. Nevada (42 points) and UNLV (41 points) claimed fifth and sixth place, respectively, followed by New Mexico (seventh, 33 points), Air Force (eighth, 31 points), Fresno State (ninth, 17 points) and Colorado State (10th, 16 points).
The 2014 Mountain West Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships will be held next week at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas. Competition will begin on Wednesday, February 19 at 12:30 p.m. CT with the 1-meter springboard preliminaries and run through Saturday, February 22. Each day will begin with preliminary heats in the morning, followed by finals sessions at 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday’s finals session will begin at 6 p.m. CT with the annual Senior Recognition Ceremony.
Boise State and San Diego State have been the league favorites since the Broncos joined the MW in 2011-12. BSU edged out the Aztecs for the title in 2012 with a win in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. SDSU took back the crown in 2013 with five individual titles and wins in four of the five relays.
This year’s Championships will feature a live webstream of all sessions. The live stream is available on the Mountain West Network (TheMW.com/#!/watch-live). There is no charge for the video streams.
Live results, team scores, event highlights and more information from the meet is available on the MW Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship Central page at TheMW.com/#!/page/championship_c-swim. In addition, fans can monitor results through the Meet Mobile app on their handheld devices. The Active Network application can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads, and from Google Play for Android phones and tablets. Fans also can follow #MWSD14 or @MW_OlySports on Twitter for updates throughout the week.
Event Notes:
50-yard freestyle – Five student-athletes have posted NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the event this season. San Diego State freshman Anika Apostalon leads the group with a mark of 22.39, followed by fellow rookie Katelyn Martin of Boise State with a 22.71. Veteran Morgan Hartigan, a senior from Wyoming, posted a season-high 22.85, while newcomers Brittany Aoyama (Fr., Boise State) and Erika Harvey (Sr., San José State) swam a 22.96 and 22.99, respectively.
100-yard freestyle – Anika Apostalon and Morgan Hartigan also posted NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 100-free, with the Aztec rookie posting a league-best 48.40 and the Cowgirl senior, and defending champion in the event, swimming a season-best 49.92. San José State rookie Alysha Bush also posted a ‘B’ time with a 49.55.
200-yard freestyle – Another freshman sits atop the leader board, as Boise State rookie Felicity Cann holds the season-best mark in the 200-free with a time of 1:48.42. SDSU senior Mikaela Macklin (1:48.49) and freshman Anika Apostalon (1:49.35) hold two of the top four times in the Conference, while UNLV senior Jessica Heim posted the third-best time of the season, 1:48.55.
500-yard freestyle – Air Force freshman Genevieve Miller takes over the rookie leadership from SDSU’s Apostalon in the long-distance events. Miller is the lone MW swimmer to post an NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 500-free, 4:47.43. Newcomer Riley Spitser, a sophomore from San José State, has the second-fastest time in the league at 4:50.25.
1,650-yard freestyle – Genevieve Miller, the Air Force rookie, also posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 1,650-free with a 16:23.09. Her 1,000-yard freestyle split time of 9:54.25 is also the fastest in the MW this season. Boise State sophomores Emri Moore and Blake Balogh have the next fastest times in the league at 16:44.56 and 16:52.38, respectively.
100-yard backstroke – Swimmers from three different MW team have posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the event this season. Wyoming senior Morgan Hartigan holds the top time in the event with a 52.98, while SDSU freshman Anika Apostalon swam a season-best 53.79. Boise State sophomore Devin Madsen posted the third-best time in the Conference of 55.05.
200-yard backstroke – SDSU sophomore Natilee Ruiz and Boise State sophomore Devin Madsen hold the only NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the Conference during the regular season. Ruiz posted a league-leading 1:58.45, while Madsen swam a 1:58.83.
100-yard breaststroke – Newcomer Darcie Anderson (Sr., SJSU) is expected to challenge MW returnees Sydney Johansen and Heather Harper of Boise State in this event. Johansen holds the top time in the MW this season with a 1:02.61, followed by Anderson at 1:03.21 and Harper at 1:03.28.
200-yard breaststroke – Four swimmers recorded NCAA ‘B’ cut times in this event during the regular season. Boise State junior Heather Harper holds the top time of 2:14.46, while teammate Chelsea Miller, a senior, has the fourth-best time of 2:15.74. SJSU senior Darcie Anderson swam the second-fastest time in the Conference with a 2:15.30, followed by Nevada sophomore Yawen Li with a 2:15.46.
100-yard butterfly – Defending champion Katelyne Herrington holds the top NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the league this season of 52.71. The senior from UNLV is followed by Boise State freshman Brittany Aoyama with a ‘B’ cut time of 53.44 and San José State senior Ashlyn Acosta with a ‘B’ cut time of 53.51.
200-yard butterfly – Boise State senior Rachel Heaney is back to defend her 2013 title in the 200-fly. Heaney posted the MW’s only NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the event with a 1:58.74. SJSU senior Ashlyn Acosta holds the second-fastest time in the league with a 1:59.83.
200-yard individual medley – Wyoming senior Morgan Hartigan holds the top time in the MW with an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:59.34. Kim Davis, a junior at Air Force, also posted a ‘B’ cut time of 2:00.31.
400-yard individual medley – Air Force junior Kim Davis tops the list of three swimmers to make NCAA ‘B’ cuts during the season with a time of 4:13.84. Boise State teammates Whitney Jorgensen (Fr.) and Rachel Heaney (Sr.) hold the other two marks with a 4:16.26 and 4:17.82, respectively.
Relays – Boise State holds four of the top relay times in the MW this season – 200-yard freestyle (1:31.64), 800-yard freestyle (7:17.85), 200-yard medley (1:40.53) and 400-yard medley (3:41.72). San Diego State paced the league in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:19.98.
1-meter diving – Wyoming senior Amanda Fay leads the group of 17 Mountain West divers who have posted NCAA qualifying marks in the event. Fay posted a 325.95 on January 25 at her home pool in Laramie, Wyo. Fresno State senior Hannah Prigge holds the second-highest score with a 324.20, followed by Nevada senior En-tien Huang with a 322.43. Huang’s teammate Stephanie Hansen (Sr.) will be back at the pool to defend her 2013 title in the event.
3-meter diving – Defending champion En-tien Huang, a senior from Nevada, holds the top mark in the MW this season with a 367.20 posted on November 9. Fellow Wolf Pack senior Stephanie Hansen posted the third-highest score of the season at 336.60, while Boise State senior Ciera Cortney had the second-best score in the Conference at 342.98. Nineteen MW divers have qualified for NCAA Zones in the event.
Platform diving – So far four MW divers have qualified for NCAA Zones, led by Fresno State senior Hannah Prigge with a score of 275.75. Prigge will be challenged by Boise State junior Erin Kohlbeck (241.80) and Nevada senior En-tien Huang (240.80). 2013 champion Stephanie Hansen (Sr., Nevada) will also be among the contenders for the individual title.
Outside the pool – Diver Amanda Fay represents Wyoming on the Mountain West Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
2013-14 MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES’ POLL
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Points
1. Boise State (6) 78
2. San Diego State (4) 75
3. Wyoming 62
4. San José State 57
5. Nevada 42
6. UNLV 41
7. New Mexico 33
8. Air Force 31
9. Fresno State 17
10. Colorado State 16
