The University of Wyoming swimming and diving teams split duals with Denver University on Saturday afternoon in the Laramie Recreation Center Pool. The Pokes picked up a 176-124 win over the Pioneers to move to 3-1 on the season. The Cowgirls fell to No. 23 Denver 152-148 on the final relay for the Cowgirls first home dual loss since falling to BYU on Jan. 23, 2010.
Wyoming honored eight Cowgirl seniors and five Cowboy seniors during the meet, as they competed in their final meet in Laramie.
“I was very proud of the effort of the team today and the exceptional diving we got,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “I give a lot of credit to our team facing a team in Denver with a lot of talent.”
The Cowboys won 10 events on the afternoon. Senior Adam Kalms added two wins for Cowboys along with junior Kyle Scalise. Kalms won the 100 freestyle with a mark of 44.93. He also added a win in the 200 freestyle at 1:38.96. Scalise took the 100 breaststroke at 57.24 and the 200 breaststroke at 2:08.62.
Freshman Ryan Ball picked up a win in the 100 backstroke with a time of 50.68. Junior George Eglesfield won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:52.84. Junior Bryce Carter added a victory for the Pokes in the 50 freestyle at 20.92.
The Pokes took both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Kalms, Eglesfield, Scalise and Carter won the 200 medley relay to open the meet with a mark of 1:30.80. The quartet of freshman Kyle White, Carter, senior Ryan O’Leary and Kalms earned the crown in the 400 freestyle with a time of 3:04.66.
“The guys came out and really swam well and I couldn’t be happier for them,” Johnson said. “It was Adam’s day and he really dominated.”
The Cowgirls won five events on the day. Junior Nicole Hlavacek got the Cowgirls off to a fast start winning the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:33.87. She was followed in second by junior Lauren McClure and third by senior Aliyah Mikulski. Junior Molly Coonce won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.78. Junior Emily Ridout won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.36.
The Cowgirls dominated the diving events with junior Kari Campbell winning both boards. On the 3-meter springboard, she recorded a tally of 278.47. On the 1-meter springboard, she recorded a 291.15. Sophomore Keely Bishop finished second in both boards including a 283.65 on the 1-meter.
In the men’s events, freshman Austin Rettinghouse won the 3-meter springboard with a tally of 306.77. Fellow freshman Ryan Russi finished second on the 1-meter springboard of 285.22.
“Our kids dived really well and they reacted well to the break and really enjoyed themselves,” UW diving coach Chelsea Popplewell said. “It was a great confidence booster for the rest of the year.”
Wyoming returns to action next Saturday with the Cowgirls heading to Boise State and the Cowboys heading to Colorado School of Mines.
