San Diego State won its third Mountain West Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships title in five seasons on Saturday, February 21 at the 2015 Mountain West Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships. The Aztecs tallied 704.5 points across 21 events at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas, picking up three relay and four individual event titles
Boise State finished in second with 679.5 points, followed by Nevada in third with 507 points. Wyoming took fourth place with 420 points and UNLV was fifth with 312.5 points. Air Force came in sixth, thanks to 1-2 finishes by sophomore Genevieve Miller and junior Sara Menke in the 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle, with 281 points. San José State finished seventh (222), followed by Fresno State (187), New Mexico (180) and Colorado State (172.5).
In addition to the team trophy, several individual awards were handed out. Nevada junior Yawen Li, who captured three individual titles and swam on three of the Wolf Pack relay teams at the meet, was named the 2015 MW Women’s Swimmer of the Year, while her head coach Abby Steketee earned her first MW Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year honor. Nevada junior Krysta Palmer received 2015 MW Women’s Diver of the Year honors, the third consecutive Wolf Pack diver to earn the award, while Nevada diving coach Jian Li You was named the Mountain West Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the third straight year. San José State’s Morgan McCormick was named the MW Freshman of the Year, setting a MW all-time record of 1:54.13 in the 200-yard backstroke and swimming in two additional finals and a relay for the Spartans.
Air Force senior Kim Davis was presented with the Mountain West Senior Award as selected by the Conference’s head coaches prior to the evening’s finals.
NOTES:
· Nevada junior Krysta Palmer set a MW overall and championship record in the preliminary round of the platform dive with a score of 344.50. Palmer set the overall mark of 328.00 last month, while the championship record of 285.95 has stood since 2006 (Kelsey Patterson, Utah). Her score of 343.50 in the finals earned her a sweep of the three diving titles in the meet. Boise State senior Erin Kohlbeck finished second with a mark of 274.60 and Wyoming junior Kari Campbell posted a score of 234.96 for third.
· Air Force finished 1-2 in the finals of the 1,650-yard freestyle. Sophomore Genevieve Miller won her second event of the meet with a MW overall record of 16:13.01, followed by junior Sara Menke in second with a ‘B’ cut of 16:28.38. Miller passed the previous record of 16:15.53 set by Kelly Marquenie of San Diego State at the 2011 MW Championships. San José State junior Riley Spitser placed third with a time of 16:32.52.
· San José State freshman Morgan McCormick earned the 200-yard backstroke title with a Mountain West all-time and championship record of 1:54.13. The previous record was established by former Colorado State swimmer Breann Fuller in the preliminary round of the 2013 MW Championships. Boise State senior Nicolette Cannon finished second with a time of 1:56.20, followed by Nevada freshman Jaeger Turner with a time of 156.33.
· Nevada junior Yawen Li shaved almost two seconds off the MW all-time and pool record with the victory in the 200-yard breaststroke finals, an NCAA provisional time of 2:08.49, a mark she set during the 2014 MW Championships. Wyoming rookie Maria Harutjunjan placed second with a time of 2:13.263, followed by UNLV sophomore Lina Rathsack in third at 2:13.88.
· San Diego State sophomore Anika Apostalon recorded a 47.88 in the 100-yard freestyle finals, just .15 off her record-setting mark of 47.73 posted at last year’s Championships. San Diego State senior Chelsea Bailey swam to a second-place finish with a 49.06, followed by Nevada sophomore Chelsea Bailey in 49.14 seconds
· San Diego State sophomore Frida Berggren won 200-yard butterfly in a time of 1:58.08, followed closely by teammate Summer Harrison (Fr.) in second at 1:58.16. Boise State senior Jessica Bottelberghe placed third at 1:58.60.
· Boise State won its second relay of the meet with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Broncos swam an NCAA provisional standard of 3:16.88 for the win. UNLV posted a time of 3:17.58 for second, followed by San Diego State in third place at 3:18.43.
Air Force
The Air Force women’s swimming team finished in sixth place at the 2015 Mountain West swimming and diving championships, Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Palo Alto Center in San Antonio, Texas.
San Diego State won the 2015 Mountain West championship with 704.50 points. Boise State was second (679.50), Nevada was third (554), Wyoming was fourth (420) and UNLV was fifth (312.50). Air Force finished in sixth place with 281 points, matching last season’s finish and the predicted finish in the pre-championship coaches poll. San Jose State was seventh (222), followed by Fresno State (187), New Mexico (180) and Colorado State (172.50).
Sophomore Genevieve Miller and junior Sara Menke claimed the top two spots in the 1650 freestyle. Miller won the event, setting a new MW Championship and MW all-time record. Her time of 16:13.01 also broke her own school record. Menke was second in the meet with a 16:28.38, the second fastest time in school history. Both were NCAA “B” cuts.
Senior Kim Davis placed eighth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:17.09. Freshman Maria Schroeder placed ninth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.40.
In a time trail, Schroeder broke the school record in the 100 fly with a time of 54.52.
In platform diving, senior Lainie Long was seventh with 209.45 points.
Boise State
Boise State finished second at the Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships Sunday night, but ended the meet on a high note as the quartet of Brittany Aoyama, Sam Wicks, Katelyn Martin and Jessica Bottelberghe captured the finale, the 400 free relay, in a school-record 3:16.88.
The Broncos ended the meet with three titles (400 free relay, 800 free relay, 100 fly), its most since winning 10 in 2012, and 679.5 team points. That total was second to San Diego State, which captured the conference title with 704.5 points. Nevada was third with 554 points, Wyoming (420) fourth and UNLV rounded out the top five with 312.5.
“I’m really proud of our team with the way we raced from start to finish this week,” said Boise State head coach Kristin Hill. “We fought really hard today after not having our best day yesterday, so to come back with the energy and enthusiasm and will to win today was great. Being able to win that last relay, winning two relays this week, was a good way to end the competition.”
In the meet’s finale, the 400 free relay, the Broncos trailed San Diego State by 0.63 of a second at the halfway point. It was at this point, however, that Martin would surge past San Diego State’s Taylor Johnson, making up 1.61 seconds and handing anchor Jessica Bottelberghe a lead of 0.61 of a second over second-place UNLV.
Bottelberghe wrapped her leg in 49.21 to give the Broncos a final time of 3:16.88, an NCAA Provisional Standard and Boise State record. The new record eclipsed the old mark of 3:17.55 set at the 2012 Mountain West Championships.
“Katelyn really swam with a lot of heart today, including in her individual race,” Hill noted. “Between the two of those it was really impressive. We needed her to do exactly what she did to win that relay and she is someone that’s a competitor and we appreciate that kind of heart and spirit.”
The 400 free relay mark was just one of three school records set Saturday night. Senior Nikki Cannon eclipsed Devin Madsen’s 2013 mark of 1:57.56 with a 1:57.46 in morning qualifying, then bettered that by more than a second with a time of 1:56.20 for a runner-up finish in the A final.
Another senior, diver Erin Kohlbeck, put her name atop the Boise State platform diving category twice as well. Kohlbeck posted a qualifying score of 271.20 to surpass Amanda Burnett’s mark of 257.45 set at the Missouri Invitational in December 2011, then added to the record with a score of 274.60 in the final, taking second overall.
The Bronco diving contingent dominated the platform Saturday, as in addition to Kohlbeck’s runner-up finish, sophomores Jordan Marthens (255.70) and Karli Kriewall (218.55) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, with freshman Kiley Carlson taking fifth in the consolation for an overall 13th-place finish. In total, the Bronco divers contributed 49 points to the team’s score just from platform.
“It was fantastic bringing back all four divers today. Erin was fantastic in breaking the school platform record twice,” said Boise State diving coach John Lynch. “Having three young divers scoring points today makes me very excited about the future of Bronco diving. I have to give a huge shoutout to Kristin and the athletic department for the investment and opportunity to travel to invites and training trips. These opportunities are the key to our success on platform.”
Bottelberghe preceded her relay-clinching anchor leg with a strong third-place finish in the 200 fly, clocking a personal-best 1:58.60, which also stood as an NCAA B Cut.
Aoyama (49.37) and Wicks (49.41) took fourth and fifth, respectively, in the A final of the 100 free, with Martin (49.77) and Emma Chard (49.92) going 1-2 in the B final for eighth and ninth-place overall finishes and NCAA B Cuts.
Heather Harper finished fourth in the 200 breast, touching the pad in 2:14.56 while freshman Emily Mathis took sixth in 2:15.15.
Other top-eight finishes for the Broncos Saturday included Sydney Johansen taking eighth in the 200 back in 1:59.97, and Emri Moore finishing sixth in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:37.87, third-fastest in school history. Amelia Draney (16:51.17) took ninth, Blake Balogh (16:59.44) 14th and Megan Myers (16:59.89) 15th in the 1,650 free.
For the Bronco diving contingent, up next is the NCAA Zone E Qualifying Meet from March 9-11 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Bronco swimmers with NCAA B Cuts will find out in the coming weeks if their times qualify for the NCAA Championships, set to be held in Greensboro, N.C. March 19-21.
2015 Mountain West Championships Final Team Scores
SDSU 704.5
Boise State 679.5
Nevada 554
Wyoming 420
UNLV 312.5
AFA 281
SJSU 222
Fresno St 187
NM 180
Colo St 172.5
Colorado State
The Colorado State swimming & diving program completed the team portion of its season on Saturday, finishing in 10th place at the 2015 Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships.
The finish was disappointing for the Rams, who were in fifth when competition ended after the first day. While the team finish wasn’t the statement the Rams were hoping to make, several individuals had strong, and even record-breaking performances, throughout the Championships. Additionally, CSU posted a winning dual-meet season, its second in a row.
Highlights:
· Junior Ariana Milone continued her reign as one of the top divers in the league. Milone set a school record on the 3-Meter boards in January before smashing that mark at the Championships. During the preliminary round, she scored 356.00, a nearly 27-point improvement from her previous best. The score led all divers entering the finals, where Milone recorded a 338.10 – second-best in CSU history – and a second-place finish. A day earlier, she set a school record on the 1-Meter boards, posting a score of 304.05. The score earned her a third-place medal and 16 points. CSU’s previous record (298.73) had been held by Erica Torgrude since 1996.
· In addition to Milone, senior Mary Kate Hardy scored six points with an 11th-place finish on 1-Meter and five points with a 12th-place finish on Platform. Her Platform score of 212.30 was the third-best in school history. Milone placed 15th in the event with a lifetime-best score of 193.70.
· After being 12-hundredths of a second away from qualifying for the NCAA Championships earlier this season, freshman Katie Kicklighter met the B-cut requirement, touching the wall at 22.95. The time made her the fifth-best performer in school history. She earned 11 points after placing eighth later that night in the event’s finals.
· Senior Tess Simpson has had an illustrious career at CSU, scoring at each season’s Championships, and even being part of two school records. In her last meet, however, she accomplished something she had never done before. On Friday in the 100 Breaststroke, Simpson touched the wall in 1:02.37, earning her first-ever A final. That evening, she shaved six-hundredths of a second off of her preliminary time (1:02.31), to finish in sixth place and earn All-Mountain West honors.
· Made up of Karin Roh, Colleen Olson, Teagan Griffith and Elizabeth Prasse – a freshman and three sophomores – CSU’s 800 Freestyle Relay time of 7:25.89 was the third-fastest in school history. CSU’s 200 Medley Relay team originally set a school record, but after competition was complete for the night, it was ruled that the team was disqualified for leaving the block one-hundredths of a second early, eliminating 22 points from the Rams’ score.
· Eight different athletes scored in individual events for the Rams, with all but two having eligibility remaining after this season: Jenna Beaury (200 Breaststroke, 11th), Hardy (1-Meter, 11th; Platform, 12th), Alexandra Jacobs (400 IM, 15th), Kicklighter (50 Freestyle, eighth; 100 Freestyle, 12th; 100 Backstroke, 16th), Megan Lloyd (200 Butterfly, 13th), Milone (3-Meter, second; 1-Meter, third; Platform, 15th), Jessica Shepard (100 Backstroke, 14th), Simpson (100 Breaststroke; sixth; 100 Butterfly; 11th). Additionally, four others scored in relay events.
San Diego State won the Championships for the third time in the past five seasons, edging Boise State with a score of 704.50. The Broncos finished second (679.50), followed by Nevada (554), Wyoming (420), UNLV (312.50), Air Force (281), San José State (222), Fresno State (187), New Mexico (180) and CSU (172.50).
While the Championships mark the end of the season, five student-athletes have the potential of continuing their season. All four divers – Hardy, Milone, Erin Taylor and Emily Williams – each qualified for NCAA Diving Zones throughout the season, and will compete March 10-13 at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Additionally, Kicklighter earned an NCAA Championships B-cut-qualifying time in the 50 Freestyle, and could potentially compete at next month’s premier national event.
Fresno State
Fresno State swimming and diving finished their time at the 2015 Mountain West Championships on Saturday and are coming home with an eighth place team finish.
“We improved our place from last year and the girls swam so well this weekend,” Bulldogs head coach Jeanne Fleck said.
The day started when head coach Jeanne Fleck’s protest of her 400 Medley Relay team’s disqualification was overturned. The Mountain West and the judges reversed the DQ this morning, giving the Bulldogs a new school record time of 3:43.22. Esme Gullick, Brook Rodriguez, Tarryn Rennie and Leah Hatayama teamed to smash the old school record by six seconds.
“That gave us a big boost, everyone’s swims got better after that and it was just gave us new life,” Fleck said.
In the 1650 Freestyle, Courtney Sheehan got 11 points for the team score by finishing eighth with a time 16:48.21. Junior Kelly Simmons got six points for her 11th place finish (16:57.82). Danielle Powers swam a 17:30.65 and Vanessa Dugan posted a 17:32.99. All four Bulldog mile swimmers posted lifetime best times.
Sophomore Hailee Baldwin finished 13th in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:17.49. She scored four points with her performance.
In the final event of the evening, the Bulldogs’ 400 Freestyle Relay team swam a 3:23.15 to finish eighth. They beat New Mexico and Colorado State by less than a second to secure the eighth place team finish.
On the platform, sophomore diver Shelbie Holden scored a collegiate-best 227.90 to finish ninth. After finishing 10th in the prelims, she won the B-final in the evening. Holden is now qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Meet in March in the 1-meter, 3-meter and the platform.
The swimming season is over for the Bulldogs, but divers Holden and Lacie Ruth will be in action in Colorado Springs, Colo., on March 9-11 for the NCAA Zones.
UNLV
The UNLV women's swimming and diving team improved on last year's finish by two spots, placing fifth after the final night of competition ended on Saturday at the 2015 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, held at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center. The Rebels scored 312.5 points for the four-day meet, while Wyoming was fourth with 420. San Diego State won the team title with 704.5 points, Boise State was second with 679.5 points and Nevada, Reno came in third with 554 points. Due to UNR's higher finish in the meet, the Wolf Pack receive the swimming points this year in the Governor's Series, the all-sports competition between the two schools presented by NV Energy and sponsored by Barrick Gold.
The final event of the meet was also the best of the final day for the Rebels, as Elena Gavrilova, Lina Rathsack, Michelle Troup and Julia Fehervari turned in a second place finish in the 400 free relay in a NCAA 'B' provisional time of 3:17.58, a time just .06 off the school record. The next best finish on Saturday was provided by Rathsack, who was third in the 200 breast in 2:13.88, a 'B' time and the second fastest in team history.
In the night's first event, the 1650 free, Josefine Hippi placed 13th in 16:58.65 to lead off the scoring for the Rebels. That ranks her ninth on the UNLV record books. Following that was the 200 back, where Jessica Wong also recorded a 'B' time, touching the wall in 1:59.01 to place 11th. It was a career-best swim from Wong, moving her to ninth all-time at UNLV in the event.
UNLV placed three swimmers in the scoring heats of the 100 free. Michelle Troup led the way by coming in sixth in 49.74, just .01 seconds ahead of teammate Fehervari in seventh place. Both times are 'B' times, and rank fifth and sixth in program history. Gavrilova would score 11th in the race after touching the wall in 50.21. The final swimmer to score for UNLV was Gözde Tekin, 12th in the 200 fly in 2:02.72, ninth-fastest time ever at UNLV.
The Rebel divers posted a pair of top-16 finishes as well, as Michele Serra was 14th with a score of 206.95, while Taylor Shillingburg was 16th after posting a score of 189.20.
New Mexico
New Mexico wraps up the fourth and last day of the 2015 Swimming and Diving MW Championships with a final score of 180 points to take ninth place in this season’s conference standings.
SDSU takes the title for the conference championships after achieving a final team score of 704.5. The last time the Aztecs claimed the top spot was during the 2013 MW Championships where they earned 734 points.
Four days of rigorous competition and 21 events later resulted in the remaining final team rankings: Boise State for second place (679.5 points), Nevada for third place (554 points), Wyoming for fourth place (420 points), UNLV for fifth place (312.5 points), Air Force Academy for sixth place (281 points), San Jose State for seventh place (222 points), Fresno State for eighth place (187 points) and CSU for 10th place (172.5 points).
The Lobos began the final day with event 16—200-yard backstroke.
Caitlin Gardiner recorded a prelim time of 2:00.73 to put her in 15th place and a B-finals time of 2:01.73 for 14th place.
Amber Amr and Kaela McKee raced in the C-finals of the same event.
Amr had a 2:02.51 prelim time for 25th place and 2:03.23 finals time to move her up to 23rd place. McKee swam a prelim time of 2:02.46 and final time of 2:05.69 to put her in 24th place for both the preliminaries and finals round.
New Mexico moved on to the 100-yard freestyle where six other Lobos (Shayla King, Amelie Braul, April Chee, Fanni Pataki, Madison Burns and Anna D-Lilliestrom) represented in the preliminaries event but only one made to the final round.
Freshman Morgan Ginnis showed a 14th place prelim time of 50.59 and B-finals time of 50.46 for 15th place.
Next up was the 200-yard breaststroke.
Lindsey Englestead brought in the highest place for UNM in the event clocking in at 2:17.23 in the B-finals round for 10th. Kristin Walker accompanied Englestead in the B-finals and took 14th with a time of 2:17.51.
Emily McGill racked some more points for the Lobos in the same event as she finished with a C-finals time of 2:18.28 for 18th place.
New Mexico transitioned to the 200-yard butterfly where Anna Lengyel, Celine Bertrand and Abigail Wheeler occupied the lanes for the Lobos.
Lengyel touched the wall at 2:01.04 for seventh place in the A-finals. Bertrand came in at 2:06.72 for 16th place in the B-finals. Wheeler recorded a time of 2:03.20 for 17th place in the C-finals.
The team of Ginnis, King, Braul and Chee competed in the only relay of the day.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay Ginnis swam the first leg with a split of 50.87, King went second and raced a split of 51.35, Braul went after and recorded the fastest split of 50.53 and Chee finished with an anchoring time of 50.70 to bring the team’s time to 3:23.45 for ninth place.
Ginnis brought four days of conference competition to a close in the final event of the day where she went head to head with Wyoming’s junior swimmer Emily Ridout. Ginnis finished at 23.11 to take first place just a hair before her only opponent’s time of 23.11.
New Mexico's swimming and diving program endured another challenging dual meet and conference season with both struggles and triumphs to contribute to the depth and advancement of the team.
However, the battles in the water don't surrender yet.
Though the swimmers are done the divers will have a short relief from competition until the NCAA Diving Zones which are scheduled to begin in Colorado Springs, Colo. on March 9.?
Wyoming
The University of Wyoming Cowgirl swimming and diving team finished action at the Mountain West Championship on Saturday in the Palo Alto College Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Cowgirls finished fourth with 420 team points finishing in the top-four of the conference for the ninth consecutive season.
San Diego State won the MW Championship with a tally of 704.5. Boise State came in second at 679.5 with Nevada earning fourth place with a tally of 554.
“I thought today we were pretty good, but we got a little tired tonight,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “I think we raced the hardest we could and did our best. The Meet gets faster ever year and we need to get better in the off season.”
Junior Nicole Hlavacek broke the school record in the 1,650 freestyle to open the meet clocking in at 16:35.41. Junior Kari Campbell broke her school record on the platform dive for the second time this season tallying a 273.50.
Freshman Maria Harutjunjan placed second in the 200 breaststroke with a personal-best 2:13.63, as she finished third in the event. The mark was also the third-fastest time in school history. Junior Emma Dow finished 15th in the event at 2:18.92.
“Maria had a great race and had a really strong finish to move up,” Johnson said.
Junior Molly Coonce finished fourth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.47. Senior Claudia Carlson finished 11th at 2:01.19. Hlavacek finished fifth in the 1,650 freestyle with her school record. Junior Lauren McClure finished 16th in the race at 17:06.26.
The 200 backstroke was a solid event for the Cowgirls. Sophomore Abby Sullivan finished the race at 1:59.48, as it was a personal-best and third-fastest time in Cowgirl history that placed her sixth. Freshman Connor Tarver also recorded a personal best finishing seventh in the event with the fifth-fastest mark in school history of 1:59.97. Senior Jordan Denny finished 15th with a time of 2:01.91 with Emily Stevens coming in 16th at 2:05.02.
“It is encouraging to have such a young group do so well and see freshmen and sophomores racing so well and it’s encouraging for the future.”
The 400 freestyle relay team of sophomore Danielle Badger, redshirt junior Emily Stucky, Sullivan and junior Emily Ridout finished sixth at 3:22.30. Ridout also finished 16th in the 100 freestyle at 50.50.
Campbell’s school record earned her a third-place finish in the event, Sophomore Keely Bishop finished eighth at 202.65. Her mark of 248.05 in the preliminaries was the third-best tally in school history.
“Tower is such a fun event because it is more hit or miss,” UW diving coach Chelsea Popplewell said. “To see them put together a strong day will really help us going into zones and overall it was a strong weekend.”
For Cowgirls with NCAA "B" provisional times they will now wait for the NCAA Psych Sheets to come out to see if they will earn spots in next month's NCAA Championship meets. Wyoming divers Campbell and Bishop are all qualified for next month's NCAA Zone "E" Diving Championships on at least one board and will continue training before traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo. on March 9.
