2016 MWC DAY 3 (MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE) WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
- Wednesday, February 17 – Saturday, February 20
- Texas A&M Natatorium, College Station, TX (Central Time Zone)
- Prelims 10AM / Finals 6PM (Wed-Sat)
- Defending Champion: San Diego State (results)
- Championship Central
- Live results
With one day remaining in the meet, Boise State took a narrow lead over day two leader Nevada. Defending champion San Diego State also narrowed the margin. One factor that led to the reversal was the lack of a diving event on this particular day- Nevada has had a huge advantage in this area all weekend. The platform diving will take place tomorrow.
400 Medley Relay
Wyoming scored it’s first relay win of the weekend, scoring a narrow victory over Boise State. Defending champion San Diego State missed out on a medal in fourth. The key split for Wyoming was breaststroker Maria Harutjunjan who swam the only sub minute split in the field. Samantha Wicks was similarly outstanding for Boise State leading off, foreshadowing what was to come later in the session.
Top three:
- Wyoming 3:35.86
- Boise State 3:35.97
- UNLV 3:37.25
400 IM
Yawen Li defended her conference title, although she was well back of her own conference record. The Nevada senior was faster than her competitors in all of the four strokes.
Nevada was unable to capitalize well in the team race, as Li was alone in the heat for her team.
Top three
- Yawen Li, Nevada 4:09.89
- Rachel Kelch, San Diego St 4:13.96
- Emma Dow, Wyoming 4:19.03
100 Butterfly
The top two in this event was identical to a year ago. Both Brittany Aoyama of Boise St and Summer Harrison of San Diego St were slightly slower than a year ago, however. San Diego State made up ground on the top two teams by putting two swimmers in the top eight.
Top three
- Brittany Aoyama, Boise St 52.75
- Summer Harrison, San Diego St 52.84
- Elise Hart, Air Force 53.59
200 Freestyle
Emma Chard is one of the most improved swimmers in the entire conference. The Boise State sophomore peeled a second and a half off her 2015 pace to set a conference record and win easily. Defending champion Teresa Baerens faded late to finish 4th.
Nevada was able to put three swimmers in this top eight in what was their best event of the night
Top three
- Emma Chard, Boise St 1:45.23
- Rebecca Murray, Nevada 1:46.89
- Michelle Troup, UNLV 1:47.18
100 Breaststroke
Maria Harutjunjan scored a come from behind victory over Lina Rathsack to make it back-to-back titles. The Wyoming sophomore was joined by teammate Emily Ridout in the top three.
Harutjunjan’s time was also a conference record.
Top three
- Maria Harutjunjan, Wyoming 1:00.21
- Lina Rathsack, UNLV 1:00.59
- Emily Ridout, Wyoming 1:01.18
100 Backstroke
Samantha Wicks won as expected. The top returner in the event, she inched closer to Anika Apostalon’s league record but came up short. Isobel Ryan of Wyoming was able to swim with her for the first half before falling back.
Boise State had two out of the top eight to put themselves into the lead.
Top three
- Samantha Wicks, Boise St 52.36
- Isobel Ryan, Wyoming 53.24
- Ugne Mazutaityte, Fresno St 54.06
Team Scores after Day 3:
- Boise State University 430.5
- Nevada, University of 419
- San Diego State University 366
- University of Wyoming (W) 309
- University of Nevada, Las Vega 259
- San Jose State University 197
- Colorado State University 168
- New Mexico, University of 158.5
- U S Air Force Academy (W) 142
- Fresno State University 127