Mountain West Conference – Women
- Wednesday, February 20 – Saturday, February 23
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Boise State (2x) (results)
- Live results
- Championship Central
The 2019 Mountain West Conference Championships may come down to the wire, as San Diego State cut Nevada’s lead to only 2.5 points, punctuating their assault with a Conference record 400 medley relay. Two-time defending champ Boise State could also contend for the win, and those three teams separated themselves from the pack on Day 2.
Team Scores After Day 2:
1. Nevada – 530.5
2. San Diego State – 528
3. Boise State – 485
4. New Mexico – 316
5. Fresno State – 311.5
6. Colorado State – 251.5
7. Wyoming – 241.5
8. UNLV – 213.5
9. San Jose State – 186.5
10. US Air Force Academy – 176
Adriana Palomino of New Mexico started off the evening with a comfortable win in the 500. Palomino had the lead by the 100 mark (54.60), and never looked back, finishing in a B-cut time of 4:43.63. Palomino was a model of consistency, with every split but the first in the 28-point range, and got her first 500 MWC title in her last chance after finishing 5th-3rd-4th her first three years.
In the 200 IM, Andressa Cholodovskis of Nevada won in a time of 1:59.04 over Courtney Vincent of San Diego State (1:59.91). Those two pulled steadily away from the field, and Cholodovskis pulled steadily away from Vincent. Madison Ward of Colorado State had a screaming last half (33.46-28.83), but had to settle for third, and a time (2:00.04) just outside the B-cut.
Abbey Sorensen of Boise State repeated as 50 free champ, swimming 22.42 to win by 0.18 seconds. Sorensen equaled her morning swim time, but with a 21.59 relay split in the 200 medley relay last night, she may be capable of even faster. Sisters Alma (22.60) and Klara (22.70) Thormalm were second and third for San Diego State, and Samantha Geyer (22.71) gave SDSU a 2-3-4 finish.
The 50 free was enough to give San Diego State a 12.5 point lead, but the lead was fleeting, as Nevada put three in the top 8 in the 3 meter diving, including champ Isabel Vazquez. Vazquez scored 362.05 to win a narrow victory over Montse Urzua (361.20) of UNLV.
But San Diego State had one more arrow in their quiver, and it flew in the form of a dominant 400 medley relay. Elliyana Ferrin (53.33), Klara Thormalm (58.94), Courtney Vincent (51.45), and Alma Thormalm (48.56) combined for a Mountain West Conference record of 3:32.28. SDSU won by 4.3 seconds, and were only 0.08 seconds away from the A-cut. Particularly notable was Klara Thormalm’s breaststroke split, which puts her in contention to break a minute in the open 100 breast and challenge Maria Harutjunjan’s 2017 MWC record of 59.85.