Colorado State vs Northern Colorado (Women)
- Friday, January 27, 2023
- Greeley, Colo.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: CSU 185.5, UNC 113.5
Courtesy: CSU Athletics
GREELEY, Colo. – They don’t talk about it. But they are aware. And they attack.
With the culture shift of the team the past two seasons, head coach Christopher Woodard doesn’t have to use the undefeated streak for motivation. It’s always there and constantly pursued.
“It’s the elephant in the room. I don’t necessarily focus on it, but I don’t’ shy away from it. It’s a reality,” the Colorado State women’s swimming and diving coach said. “I just lay it out. If you want that result, then here’s what we’re going to have to do. At this point of the year, going head to head against a rival – and this is a team that is capable of beating us and the last team to beat us. I’ve seen it several times this year where they were down and they didn’t back down, they came right back and started to pour the points on.
“It was tight, but coming out of that break with the 100-yard free and the 200 back, we broke that meet wide open. I think it says a lot about our top line and our depth.”
The Rams extended their undefeated dual streak to 23 consecutive duals with a 185.5-113.5 victory over Northern Colorado at the Butler-Hancock Pool on Friday afternoon. They are 8-0-1 this season after going 14-0 a year ago, and the run is the second longest unbeaten streak in program history.
The host Bears, with the emotion of senior day, won the first race of the day, the 200 medley relay. Then the Bears took the first individual race. It’s been a rarity in the streak for the Rams to lose a relay, but instead of being flustered, they buckled down. That’s become the magic of the squad.
“When I was a freshman, I remember Woody would say we’re not the underdog this time and we can’t act like it,” junior Anika Johnson said. “From when I’ve come in, I’ve seen the team grow so much into what it is. We used to walk into meets and be like, let’s do our best and we’ll hope. We’d succeed, but now, we walk in – not like we own the place – but that we’re confident in our ability to do well now. That’s fierce.
“It makes everyone more confident walking into meets. It’s been really cool to witness it with my own eyes and be a part of it.”
Before long, the Rams were in front, paced by three victories from junior Lucy Matheson, two more from Lexie Trietley, who remains unbeaten in the 100 free in her first collegiate season. The senior class didn’t go unnoticed, with diver Jessica Albanna winning both the 1- and 3-meter boards, leading a 1-2 finish on the latter with Braeden Shaffer.
Helping the undefeated cause made it more special.
“It feels surreal. It’s really exciting to see this team build meet after meet, year after year,” she said. “I’m glad I got to be a part of it on the back end.”
She has been a factor, being at her best in her senior season, posting a couple of personal-best scores so far. She feels there’s more to come, partially because she feels it’s always been there.
A mindset very much in line with the team has helped her raise the bar.
“I’ve just been a lot more consistent this year, and I’ve been training hard, and everything is starting to click,” Albanna said. “That’s exciting, and I’m glad I get to go out on a good note. It’s a lot more to do with confidence. I think I was always able and capable of doing those dives, but I wasn’t confident enough or consistent enough in the competitions; I would get nervous. Now I feel confident and owning my stage.”
Johnson helped start to turn the tide with her victory in the 200 freestyle, and later on, Amanda Hoffman tied for the win the 100 butterfly and Erin Dawson posted an impressive victory in the 200 IM. But more than the front-end speed, Colorado State’s depth played a major part as the team started to pull away race after race, and the final touch was a Trietley bringing the Rams back in the final leg of the 400 free relay.
They showed fight in a meet they were tired. Woodard expects the same approach to shine when the squad is tapered for the Mountain West Championships in Houston, beginning on Feb. 15.
“You may be hurt, you may be injured, you may be tired, but then again, so is your opponent. Really, the physical is almost immaterial,” he said. “We’re going to talk about the fine points they need to get to that next level in Houston, but at this point, they have the mental fortitude. I’ve got a bunch of kids who refuse to lose and will not let go.”
There’s a lot about the program which has changed in the past couple of years. There’s just as much which has changed for the team this season alone, carrying in an unbeaten run to start and protecting it, even battling back for a tie on the road at Northern Arizona – the only one in program history – to keep it strung together.
To keep it together, they’ve had to stay together. That alone gives them a special feeling.
“There’s a lot of beauty with this team. No matter what, we know how to stick together, and I think that’s pretty special,” Johnson said. “The beauty of this team is I feel like we’ve all been through hard times together through covid and never given up on each other. I think it’s easy when it gets tough to make excuses for other people, but no one has ever done that on this team. No matter what, everyone sees one another for their best self, even on their bad days. I think the support and the community that we’ve built on this team is pretty special.”
Unbreakable, even. Just like their record.
Courtesy: Northern Colorado Athletics
GREELEY, Colo. — The Northern Colorado swimming and diving team hosted Colorado State for it’s final meet of the regular season, but despite some early wins, eventually fell to the Rams, 185.5-113.5, on Friday evening at Butler-Hancock Pool.
Anna Austin and Maria Erokhina continued their dominance in the freestyle and breaststroke events. Austin claimed first in both the 500 and 1000 free, with times of 5:14.25 and 10:28.82, respectively, while Erokhina took first in both the 100 and 200 breast with times of 1:04.08 and 2:22.11, respectively. Additionally, Austin took fourth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:10.20 and Erokhina took second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:15.00.
Junior Payten Iwrin claimed an additional individual win for the Bears, tying for first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.35. In the 100 fly, Irwin swam a 56.58 for second place.
Fellow junior Ali Jackson took second in her two events, the 50 free (23.98) and 100 free (52.68).
In the relays, the UNC team of Claire Timson, Erokhina, Irwin and Ali Jackson finished first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:44.71. In the 400 free relay, UNC’s team of Sarah Jackson, Elizabeth Mayer, Timson and Natalie Kayfes took second in 3:47.33.
UNC’s two divers also saw success on the other end of the pool. Teagon Albert finished second in the 1m dive, scoring 255.98, while Madison Berg took third in the 3m dive with a score of 244.35.
ACCORDING TO COACH EBELING
“We had several great races tonight and are really starting to put together some of the details that we’vee been working on in our training. Despite some holes we had in our lineup that we couldn’t overcome to grab the win, we saw a lot of positives and are exicted to see some faster swimming in a few weeks with a bit of rest.”
UP NEXT
UNC’s divers head to Colorado Springs for the Air Force Diving Invitational Feb. 2-4. The entire swimming and diving team will be back in the pool for the WAC Championships on Feb. 22-25 in Pharr, Texas.