The Colorado State swimming & diving squad is headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a mid-season tri-meet against a pair of conference foes – New Mexico and Air Force. The meet will take place Saturday, and is sure to be a good test for the Rams, three months before the conference championships.
CSU will face a pair of MW opponents for the first time this season. The Rams are 2-1 in dual meets, and placed fourth out of 11 teams at the Phill Hansel Invite in their most recent event (Nov. 18-20).
CSU boasted numerous strong individual performances over the three-day Phill Hansel Invite, but no one stood out more than sophomore Haley Rowley. The Purdue-transfer set four school records and reached four individual finals and three relay finals.
Rowley set school records in the 500 and 1650 Freestyle events as well as in the 400 IM. She also earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts in all three events. Her fourth school record was her 1000 split in the 1650 Free.
Rowley was one of four Rams to earn ‘B’ cuts on the weekend. Rowan Hauber (200 Back), Jenna Beaury (100 and 200 Breast), and Tonicia Thomas (200 Back) also earned qualifying times.
Allie Jacobs also starred in the 400 IM, posting the second-fastest time in CSU history (4:20.87).
New Mexico also competed at the Phill Hansel Invite, placing fifth as a team. Lobos standout Adriana Palomino broke three school records at the meet and will face Rowley in multiple distance events. Air Force is led by senior Genevieve Miller, who won her fourth career MW Swimmer of the Week award on Oct. 25.
WOODY’s WORDS
(on how important it is to face two conference teams at this point in the year)
“It is something new for us. We have never done it before. So we put it on the kids. They knew right from the start that they were going to have to come out of a great mid-season meet as much as we anticipated it to be, and then come right back from the break and be able to compete against two of our arch rivals. I think what we expect, is that we expect for everyone to show up and it is going to be tough, no matter how they feel, because they may not feel great right now.”
(on the importance of having depth in a meet like this one)
“For some of our top-line kids, they are going to face some stiff challenges. But the meet may not necessarily be won or lost based on those first and second places. It may be a lot of the thirds, fourths, and fifths and the tough swims to get out. We anticipate that everyone – we are going need them every step of the way. It is not going to be just two or three kids leading the charts and we can rely on that.”
(on the team’s confidence level)
“We talked to them actually yesterday about the difference between being a very good team and a great team. I feel like they have made progress over the last two or three years to become a very good team, but there is going to be a difference. The great teams perform no matter how they are feeling. The great teams perform at different times of the year, and great teams perform against the tough teams in tough situations. So I guess we are going to find out if we are taking a step towards being a great team this weekend.”
HOW RAMS RANK IN MW
Four Rams rank in the top five in the Mountain West, across five different events. Haley Rowley ranks in the top five in three different events – third in the 1650 Free (16:28.18), third in the 400 IM (4:16.24) and fourth in the 1000 Free (10:12.70). Allie Jacobs is also ranked in the 400 IM, coming in at fifth (4:20.87). CSU has been strong in backstroke competitions this season. Rowan Hauber is fourth and third in the 100 Back (54.55) and 200 Back (1:57.53), respectively. Tonicia Thomas is fifth in the 200 Back (1:58.91).
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNEES
The Rams 2016-17 roster will feature three athletes who earned all-conference recognition at the 2016 Mountain West Championships. Senior Jenna Beaury will have high expectations entering 2016-17 as she earned an NCAA B Cut time int he 200 breast last season, and earned All-MW honors in both the 100 and 200 breast. Two sophomores on the roster earned All-MW honors as freshmen a year ago – Mackenzie Halligan (400 IM) and Ida Donohue (1,650 free).
NUMEROUS RAMS RECEIVE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE RECOGNITION
Nine members of the 2015-16 CSU swimming & diving squad received Scholar-Athlete recognition from the Mountain West over the summer.
Cristina Bassani, Katie Kicklighter, Kelsey Lawton, Megan Lloyd, Carmen Mand, Elizabeth Prasse, Gianna Salanitro, Nina Stitt and Emily Williams all received the honor. The nine student-athletes represented seven different majors. Swimming & diving had the most athletes honored aside from the track & field and cross country programs.
News courtesy of Colorado State Athletics.