Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State’s women’s swimming and diving team will be spending most of the 2019-20 campaign on the road, with just one dual scheduled for the Moby Pool, but it does bring in a high-profile opponent.
Kansas will visit Fort Collins on Oct. 26, a Saturday date set for noon. The Rams have the possibility of adding another home event, as the venue for the dual with Denver (Oct. 11) still undecided. The scheduling process for the season was delayed as the Moby Pool was undergoing testing for repairs to be made. Coach Christopher Woodard said they will be finished by Sept. 3, the first day he was to start workouts with the team.
What he likes about the schedule is it offers up some new opponents and challenges for his team – and two new assistant coaches.
“The best part of our schedule is we are potentially going to see teams we haven’t seen before, or at least in many, many years,” he said. “The ability to have Kansas come in here, which is a great program run by a great coach, and we get to see Washington State, with the added pus that we have to swim them up at altitude in Laramie.
“Then the chance in January, we’re always looking for opportunities to go out to the coast, get some sun and get some training in, but obviously, we always want to be able to race, and to pick up New Mexico and Pepperdine is great. I don’t think we’ve ever swam Pepperdine. To me, that’s really exciting.”
The Rams’ first competition will be the Horsetooth Open Water swim, then the schedule starts to kick in with the Denver dual. The team will close out the first portion of the season at the Phill Hansel Invitational in Houston, right before the start of the Thanksgiving break.
They return to action with the triangular with New Mexico and Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on Jan. 8. The final dual of the season will give fans a chance to see the Rams swim as they take on Northern Colorado in Greeley.
The Mountain West Championships will be held Feb. 19-22 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Colorado State was 4-4 in duals last season and placed seventh at the conference championships. They return four of their top six point producers at the meet, led by 200-yard breaststroke champion Maddie Ward, who set school records in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, as well as the 200 individual medley.
2019-20 Women’s Swimming and Diving Schedule
Sept. 8 Horsetooth Open Water; Fort Collins, Colo., 7 a.m.
Oct. 11 Denver; TBD; 4 p.m.
Oct. 19 Air Force/Northern Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colo.; 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 26 Kansas; Fort Collins, Colo.; 12 p.m.
Nov. 8-9 Wyoming/Washington State; Laramie, Wyo.;TBD
Nov. 21-23 Phill Hansel Invitational; Houston, Texas; All day
Jan. 8 Pepperdine/New Mexico; Malibu, Calif.; 2 p.m.
Jan. 17 Colorado School of Mines; Golden, Colo.; 5 p.m.
Jan. 31/Feb.1 Air Force Diving Invitational; Colorado Springs, Colo.; All day
Feb. 7 Northern Colorado; Greeley, Colo.; 5 p.m.
Feb. 19-22 Mountain West Championships; Minneapolis, Minn.; All day
TBD; NCAA Zone E Diving Championships; Flagstaff, Ariz.; All day
Mar. 12-14 National Invitation Championships; Cleveland, Ohio; All day
Mar. 18-21 NCAA Championships; Athens, Ga.; All day