Colorado State vs New Mexico vs Air Force (Women)
- Dec. 2-3, 2022
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Scores
- Colorado State 237, Air Force 116
- Colorado State 272, New Mexico 81
- Air Force 251, New Mexico 102
Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The second day was all about the finishing touches.
Colorado State’s women’s swimming and diving team put the hammer down on the first day of a Mountain West double-dual against New Mexico and Air Force, winning seven of the eight events competed, then followed up just as impressively on the final day, winning eight of the 10 events to complete the sweep by beating the host Lobos 272-81 and the Falcons 237-116.
The wins push the Rams’ dual streak to 20 consecutive victories, now 6-0 this campaign.
“We talked about it going into the meet. Philosophy says you accept reality as it is, and we definitely had some hurdles, some challenges,” CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said. “The meet had some unique situations and some changes to the schedule, so I told the girls you can’t control the reality, you can control your reaction to it and how you handle it. That’s where it showed. Whatever was thrown at them, they just kept pushing, and that’s the sign, to me, of a championship team.
“We’re kind of to the point where it’s nice to count the wins up, but it’s great to have them in our back pocket. It’s more about continuing to build confidence for the next meet. I’m just really impressed with what they’re doing under the circumstances. It’s really starting to make me think we’ve got something going and Houston is going to look pretty good to us.”
Junior Lucy Matheson continued her torrid pace at the start of the season, winning all three of her individual events, giving her 10 race wins in a row. Her solo effort on Saturday as the most impressive, as she led a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard butterfly. Her time of 2:00.63 ties for fourth in program history with teammate Amanda Hoffman, who was right behind her in the race in 2:01.08. Matheson had ranked fifth for CSU in the event at the start of the season.
Albuquerque product Jessica Albanna placed second on both the 1- and 3-meter boards for the Rams, with Braeden Shaffer posting top-five finishes on both. Albanna, a senior, thrived in her return home, as her 1-meter score of 268.95 and her 3-meter total of 280.35 are both Zones qualifying scores, the first of her career.
“She practiced here over Thanksgiving, so she was really comfortable, and that makes a big different when you’re comfortable,” diving coach Chris Bergere said. “She grew up there and had a good experience. She came in and hit 12 dives in a row and qualified twice on Zones, so she was ecstatic. Braeden dove pretty well too.”
On Friday, Colorado State put a lot of distance between itself and the attending conference foes, winning all nine events, including a pair of relays – the 200-yard medley and 400 free. It wasn’t just the Rams’ top-end speed which left an impression, it was the depth.
Freshman Lexie Trietley led a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 free at 50.72, with Megan Hager (51.52) and Anika Johnson (51.92), then Matheson led the same charge in the 200 backstroke, starting with her 2:02.17, just in front of Kendra Preski in 2:02.33 and Caroline Perry in 2:04.92.
Erin Dawson led a 1-2 finish in the 400 individual medley with classmate Maya White in second, and a few races later, Matheson was in front of another CSU 1-2 punch, this time in the 100 fly; she touched in 55.34, Hoffman in 55.36. The 500 free went the same way as the 400 IM, with a twist – White won in 5:00.10, with Dawson second in 5:04.34. Katie McClelland won the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.25 for the Rams’ other race win.
Saturday, the Rams performed in very much the same manner, as the front end of the 200 fly wasn’t the only race they dominated.
Trietley won the 50 free in 23.28 with Hager right behind in 23.78 and in the final individual event, Johnson led a 1-2-3 finish for CSU with her time of 1:51.90. Hager followed at 1:52.33, with Dawson closing at 1:53.97.
White won the 1,650 free in a time of 17:09.87, with Dawson winning the 200 IM in 2:04.78. The Rams made it a clean sweep in the relays by taking the 400 medley and 200 free on the final day.
The Rams not only won races but did so with some of the fastest times of the season. The team produced 33 new entries into the season’s top times, replacing all three times in four events, rather impressive to Woodard considering the circumstances.
“It’s less from the cycling of the season and the rest standpoint and more from the fact we are hurting,” he said. “there’s not an athlete out there who isn’t dealing with some injury or illness at this point. We had to pull Liza Lunina out of the meet entirely. There were several standouts, but definitely the 200 flyers and our divers. Those were maybe the two biggest performances of the weekend.”
The Rams will be off from competition for a month for the holiday break, with the next meet being a double dual at Flagstaff, Ariz., against Northern Arizona and North Texas on Jan. 6.
Courtesy: Air Force Athletics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– Air Force’s two days in Albuquerque resulted in a split between the three teams, as the Falcons defeated host New Mexico 251-102 while dropping a head-to-head matchup with Colorado State by a score of 237-116.
“It’s always hard to come back from Thanksgiving and start racing again, but that is exactly why we wanted to swim in this meet,” said head coach Colleen Murphy. “It was a great win against New Mexico and we had some great swims. Our team showed lots of grit after a tough week at school and returning to altitude training.”
Among the Falcons to pick up event wins were Grace Treanor and Kai-Min Tsuei. Treanor’s performances in the one-meter dive (280.35) and the three-meter dive (294.80) were both the top scores in both events. Treanor now owns the school record in the one-meter dive, surpassing Kayla Wofford’s previous school-best score of 277.43 set in 2020.
Tsuei swam to the fastest time in the 100Y Backstroke, clocking in at 57.60. Tsuei also raced in the 200Y Medley Relay, a group that finished second with a time of 1:44.68.
Zoe Bresnahan continues to succeed, finishing second in the 1650Y freestyle, timing out at 17:24.19. The sophomore also finished third in the 400Y IM with a time of 4:31.56.
Corbyn Cormack recorded a second-place finish 200Y IM after touching out at 2:06.92. Cormack also placed third in the 100Y Butterfly (56.35) and contributed to Air Force’s second-place finish in the 400Y Medley Relay.
Lauren Arnold notched a third-place finish in the 500Y Freestyle (5:05.72) while Hanani Dona’s 2:06.25 in the 200Y Butterfly was good for a third-place finish as well. The Falcons 200Y Freestyle Relay team of Ayame Castel, Darien Tompkins, Kara Gavin, and Abby Turner raced to second after the group finalized a time of 1:36.36.
“We are looking forward to an amazing second semester,” said Murphy. “This fall has been awesome for our entire team and we will build on that momentum as we head into the conference schedule.”
Next, Air Force will have an extended break over the holidays, returning to competition on Friday, January 6 when the Falcons travel to Hawaii for dual action against the Rainbow Warriors as well as the TCU Horned Frogs.
Courtesy: New Mexico Athletics
Albuquerque, N.M. – The University of New Mexico swimming and diving team finished their two-day double-dual meet against Colorado State and Air Force on Saturday. The Lobos lost to the Rams by a score of 272-81 and to the Falcons, 251-102.
The Rams defeated the Falcons by a score of 237-116 in the meet as well.
Saturday was the second day of the two-day meet, with the first nine events being completed on Friday evening. The remaining nine swimming events and one diving event ran on Saturday.
The day began with the 1-meter diving event, where New Mexico had two divers place highly. Sophomore Alex Robertson scored 258.4 points in the event for a top finish in the event and junior Kristen Hepfer scored 240.75 to finish near the top as well. Robertson’s score was a season-best for her in the event.
The Lobos’ best swim of the day came courtesy of a strong effort by senior Ola Tomaszek in the 100-yard breaststroke. She went a 1:05.44 in the event, just barely being out-touched by the top Rams swimmer. Sophomore Kiana Raagas also swam well in the event, finishing with a 1:08.00 time.
Senior Marina Olmstead and junior Jordan Foster went the exact same time in the 50-yard freestyle, 23.99, for high finishes for both of them. Olmstead’s time was good enough for less than half a second off her season-best time in the event.
New Mexico had three impressive swims in the 100-yard backstroke, led by senior Josie Carpenter (59.42). Fellow seniors Olmstead and Maddie Deucher both placed well in the event as well, going 59.93 and 1:00.08, respectively.
Freshman Maya Clise was the Lobos’ best finisher in the 200-yard individual medley, posting a 2:10.96.
Sophomores Paige Lyons and Katy McCarter finished back-to-back with strong swims in the 200-yard freestyle event, going 1:57.80 and 1:58.08, respectively.
New Mexico will return to competition the weekend of Dec. 17-19, where they will compete in the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. Their next dual meet will not occur until a Jan. 21 bout against Mountain West Conference rival Nevada in Albuquerque.