2023 MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
- CRWC Natatorium, Houston, Texas
- Defending Champion: San Diego State
- Pre-scratch Psych Sheet
- Live Video
- Estimated Timeline
- Championship Central
- Live Results
Team Scores
- San Diego State — 1119
- UNLV — 712.5
- Nevada — 655
- Wyoming — 626
- Fresno State — 586
- Air Force — 549.5
- Colorado State — 518
- San Jose State — 431
- New Mexico — 217
San Diego State extended their lead further on the third night of competition, now 406.5 points ahead of second place UNLV. There is a tight race for third between Nevada and Wyoming, with only 29 points separating the two teams going into the final day of competition.
To start off the session, San Diego State had yet another dominant relay showing. The Aztecs won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:29.19, and marking the 4th fastest time in Mountain West history. Over two seconds behind them was Fresno State in 1:31.47, and UNLV was third in 1:32.15.
San Diego’s winning streak in the swimming events from the first two days ended in the 400-yard IM final; 2021 and 2022 returning champion Benedict Nagy from Nevada defended her title against San Diego State’s Kristina Murphy to 3-peat as the 400-yard IM Mountain West champion. The two have placed first and second in the event for the past three years in a row.
Murphy had a very strong first three legs of the race, with Nagy just edging ahead on the final 50 yards to touch first in 4:11.29, to Murphy’s 4:11.87 — both times were NCAA B standards, and the 6th and 7th fastest times in conference history. Nagy is now the second ever swimmer to 3-peat as the 400-yard IM Mountain West Conference champion: Mountain West 400-yard IM conference record holder and fellow Nevada swimmer, Yawen Li, won the event in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
UNLV had their first individual champion of the meet with junior Blanka Bokros winning the 100-yard butterfly final in 52.96, just ahead of Nevada’s Josien Wijkhuijs who hit the wall in 53.15. San Diego State still managed to get a swimmer in the top three, with Alex Roberts touching at 53.29.
San Diego State’s Wilma Johansson picked up yet another individual win for the Aztecs in the 200-yard freestyle final, clocking a 1:47.26, with UNLV freshman Erika Carlson placing second in 1:47.61. 500-yard freestyle runner-up Maisyn Klimczak from Wyoming was third in 1:48.53.
In the 100-yard breaststroke final, the top half of the field swam at the 1:00 mark, with San Diego State’s Christiana Williams claiming the title in 1:00.23. She was followed by two of her teammates, Moa Bergdahl in 1:00.79, and Meredith Smithbaker in 1:00.81. Williams showed her breaststroke prowess during Wednesday night time trials, where she unofficially broke the conference record in the 200-yard breaststroke. Williams will compete in the 200-yard breaststroke individual event tomorrow, where she will have a chance to officially break the conference record and potentially pick up another win.
In a repeat of the 100-yard butterfly showdown earlier in the finals session, San Diego State’s Alex Roberts and Nevada’s Josien Wijkhuijs went head-to head in the 100-yard backstroke. This time Roberts came out on top; she clocked the 6th fastest time in conference history with a 52.55, ahead of Wijkhuijs’ 53.04, with both swimmers hitting NCAA B cuts.