Colorado State Women Hit Midwest For Midseason Invite At Iowa

Courtesy: CSU Athletics

FORT COLLINS – At midpoint, the tests will be a bit new for Christopher Woodard‘s team.

Colorado State’s women’s swimming and diving team will head to the Iowa Invitational Nov. 30-Dec. 2, seeing new competitors on deck and taking on a different format. At 5-1 on the year in duals, the Rams will see an invitational format of preliminaries and finals for a multitude of individual races over the course of three days.

The team will not head to the CRWC Natatorium rested, per se, but they will wear tech suits for the meet, which can be streamed live on the B1G+ network (subscription required). Prelims begin at 9 a.m. MT each day, with finals scheduled for 4 p.m.

The timing of the event will challenge the Rams and their training, as it comes right after the fall break, a time when much of the team vacated campus.

“I think this fits something we were trying to do, which was to make a greater commitment to training over the break,” Woodards said. “We know if we want to have great results in Iowa, we’ve got to go home and work, or in some cases stay here over break. I’m positive they’re going to take care of business, but I think it’s going to give us an idea later in the year how they handle those breaks.”

It has been two seasons since the Rams attended a midseason invitational, and this one comes a few weeks later on the slate. Woodard said there are a few things which the coaching staff always take into consideration for these events, all of which are still on the table.

It starts with the preparation, which takes on a more individual focus and it closes with the distractions of travel and new people to race. The other leans on what is essentially a first run for the Mountain West Championships. For the trio of CSU divers, it will be their first time performing on the platform this season.

“It’s how do I swim all of my events, how do I compete over several days and several events as opposed to a dual meet where you have two or three events in three hours,” Woodard said.

Rams in the MW Top 10
3. Maya White, 1,000 free, 10:11.07*
4. Lexie Trietley, 50 free, 23.10
4. Lexie Trietley, 100 free, 50.55
5. Erin Dawson, 400 IM, 4:21.37*
9. Lucy Matheson, 200 fly, 2:02.29*
10. Tess Whineray, 200 back, 2:01.32
10. Sydney VanOvermeiren, 400 IM, 4:24.34*

*-Altitude adjusted