Boise State
Boise State earned five top-three finishes on Friday, including one relay and four individual events. After day three of competition, Boise State remains on top of the point totals. The Broncos lead with 477 points, followed by San Diego State (458.5), and Nevada (319).
The day began with the 400-yard medley relay. Boise State's relay, consisting of Sam Wicks, Heather Harper, Brittany Aoyama and Katelyn Martinstopped the clock in 3:35.77. The relay finished narrowly behind San Diego State of 3:35.15. Boise State's time was good enough for an NCAA `B' cut.
The Broncos secured three spots in the 400 IM A finals, with Whitney Jorgensen, Brooke Balogh and Rachel Heaney. Jorgensen finished fourth (4:17.05) and tallied 15 points, Balogh tapped in sixth (4:18.86) and Heaney eighth (4.22.01). Jorgensen and Balogh both stopped the clock fast enough for NCAA `B' cuts. Junior Megan Myers collected four points for Boise State with her time of 4:24.99.
Aoyama secured a spot on the medal podium in the 100-yard butterfly. The freshman took second with a time of 52.16, also fast enough for an NCAA `B' cut. Junior Jessica Bottelberghe took sixth in 54.43.
Freshman Felicity Cann was the lone Bronco in the top-16 of the 200-yard freestyle event. The rookie held her own and took second with a time of 1:46.99, made an NCAA `B' cut, and collected 17 points for the orange and blue.
Junior Heather Harper also took a spot on the medal stand, finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.81, an NCAA `B' cut time. Fellow junior Sydney Johansen took fifth in a time of 1:02.27.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Sam Wicks placed second (53.38), Nikki Cannon fifth (55.13) and Devin Madsen seventh (55.23). Wicks secured a NCAA `B' cut, and her preliminary time of 53.02 notched herself to the top of the Bronco record books.
The final day of competition begins tomorrow, Saturday Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. (CT) with the sprint preliminary rounds as well as the platform diving preliminary round. Finals begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, platform and finally the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Colorado State
Day 3 of the Mountain West Championships pitted the Rams against Fresno State for who could hold ninth place. The Rams remained victorious and regained ninth through Jessica Shepard’s stand-out performance in the 100 Backstroke.
“This morning was definitely disappointing,” Head Coach Christopher Woodard said. “That should have been an area where we took a firm grasp of the meet, but there were just missed opportunities down the line. It was pretty disheartening for all the girls, but they rallied this evening. Their energy on deck was much better and we moved up in the standings--that’s what it’s all about.”
With the first event of the night--the 400 Medley Relay--the team of Shepard, Cristina Bassani, Felicia Gilson and Karin Roh gained a lead on Fresno with a ninth-place finish at 3:45.79. However the next three events locked the Rams out of scoring position and they fell to 10th.
The tide began to turn for CSU in the 100 Breaststroke. Tess Simpson took full advantage of her opportunity to score and landed in third of the consolation finals and 10th overall. Her finals time of 1:03.36 was a lifetime best and earned CSU 6.5 valuable points.
In the final event of the night Shepard had a breakout performance for CSU in the 100 Backstroke. Shepard finished seventh in the prelims at 55.19. The sophomore then dropped more time in the finals, gaining two positions for a fifth-place finish at 55.17. Her performance launched the Rams above Fresno State in the standings to finish out the night at 131, only six points ahead of Fresno State.
“She was disappointed that she didn’t get a 54 or better,” Woodard said. “I think she prepped very well and just made a few small mistakes that lost her the 54. But she fought tough and moved up in the rankings, and that’s what’s most important to the team right now.”
The Rams have their most challenging day ahead. Saturday will be the defining day of the Championships for the Rams. The team will face the: 1650 free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 400 Free Relay, and platform diving.
“I think tonight was shot in the arm for us and we’ll see if they can rally tomorrow,” Woodard said. “Saturday is the day where fatigue really starts to set in. It will be a good barometer of who is tough and who is not up to par.”
UNLV
Senior Katelyne Herrington successfully defended her 100 fly title on Friday night to highlight the action for the UNLV women's swimming and diving team at the 2014 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, held at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center. For the second straight day the Rebels moved up one spot in the team standings and are currently fifth with 221.5 points. Boise State remains the team leader with 477.
The night began with the 400 medley relay, and the UNLV squad of Elena Gavrilova, Natalie Sanchez, Herrington and Rachel Dixon finished in sixth place with a time of 3:39.85, the third fastest in team history. Freshman Kristina Hendrick scored the next points for the Rebels, placing 14th in the 400 IM with a mark of 4:25.23.
Herrington gave UNLV its first conference title of this year's championship meet with the first under-52 performance of her career, as she touched the wall in a time of 51.48. That performance easily broke her own conference record that she set at last year's championship, 52.18, and is a NCAA 'A' Automatic time as well. Jessica Wong also scored in the event, finishing 13th (55.26).
Jessica Heim, in her first conference championships, turned in a top-eight finish for the second straight night after tying for fifth in the 200 free, recording a NCAA 'B' time of 1:47.24. She was joined in the event by Julia Fehervari, 13th in 1:49.89.
UNLV finished the night with an eight-nine finish in the 100 back. Dixon led the way with a 55.48, while Gavrilova won the consolation heat to place ninth in 54.55.
The four-day meet continues on Friday before concluding on Saturday night.
2014 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Palo Alto Aquatic Center
San Antonio, Texas
Friday, February 21
Third Day Results
Team Scoring
1. Boise State - 477
2. San Diego State - 458.5
3. Nevada, Reno - 319
4. Wyoming - 280
5. UNLV - 221.5
6. New Mexico - 218
7. San Jose State - 198
8. Air Force - 193
9. Colorado State - 131
10. Fresno State - 126
New Mexico
New Mexico finishes day three of the MW Championships adding 78 points to their 218 overall score putting them in sixth place. Boise State continues to take the lead with 477 points, San Diego State moved up to second place with 458.50 points, and Nevada remains at third-place with 319 points.
The Lobos placed in another five events today starting in heat one of Relay A for the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Kaela McKee, Ashley Blanchette, Jorgi Hobson, and Caitlin Gardiner came in fifth place recording a time of 3:39.29 – a new school record.
Hobson claimed another title today as she finished in seventh place overall with a time of 54.56 and swam in the A-finals of the 100-yard butterfly. Samantha Moss came in 17th-place and Abigail Wheeler came in 21st-place in the C-finals of the same event clocking in at 55.68 and 56.42, respectively.
New Mexico’s Monica Dudley, Anna Lengyel, and Heidi Zeiger brought in more placing titles in the 200-yard freestyle. Dudley raced in the B-finals touching the wall at 1:50.39 for 16th place. Lengyel finished at 1:51.29 for 20th place and Zeiger completed the race at 1:53.50 for 23rd place, both were in the C-finals.
Senior swimmer Ashley Blanchette was the highest finisher in the 100-yard breaststroke as she took third place at 1:01.98 in the A-finals. The Lobos were represented in the B- and C-finals of the same event. Lindsey Englestead finished in 12th place with a time of 1:03.77 in the B-finals and Kristin Walker took 18th place touching the wall at 1:04.14 in the C-finals.
Two swimmers competed in the final event of the third day of this season’s MW Championships.
UNM’s McKee and Gardiner finished the day off with titles in both the A- and B-finals of the 100-yard backstroke. McKee placed in the top eight of the event coming in for fourth place of the A-finals with a time of 53.63. Gardiner finished at 56.20 for 16th-place in the B-finals.
Fresno State
Three more school records were broken on Friday evening at the Mountain West Championships by the Fresno State swimming and diving team. The team has set at least one school record on every night of the championships so far.
Freshman Esme Gullick broke the school record in the 400 IM twice on Friday. In the preliminary heats in the morning, she swam a 4:21.87 to break her own previous record. Then, in the evening, Gullick swam a 4:18.69 to win the B-Final and place ninth overall. Her time in the final was the sixth-best time on the evening in the 400 IM.
In the 200 Freestyle, junior Lucy Titchin broke the school record that she had just set on Thursday. After just missing the school record in the preliminary round, she swam a 1:49.09 in the finals to finish second in the B-Final and 10th overall.
The final school record to fall was in the 400 Medley Relay. The team of freshman Kali Conlon and Hailee Baldwin and sophomores Dana Jones and Leah Hatayama recorded a time of 3:49.08 to best the previous record of 3:49.66. The team finished 10th.
Senior Michelle Dockendorf swam a 1:04.49 to finish 15th in the 100 Breaststroke. Her time was a little over a second off the school record and was a season-best for the Bulldogs in that event. Baldwin finished 16th with a time of 1:04.72.
Fresno State concludes competition at the Mountain West Championships tomorrow. Senior Hannah Prigge enters the Platform Dive competition as the No. 1 ranked diver in the conference on the Platform. She scored more than 30 points better then any other MW diver this season.
