In a women’s tri-meet this weekend, Northern Colorado racked up 2 wins against Nebraska-Kearney (178-61) and Colorado State-Pueblo (178-62). Colorado State-Pueblo also brought home a win, beating Nebraska-Kearney 138-92. Read on for full recaps from each team.
Northern Colorado:
KEARNEY, Neb. – UNC Swimming and Diving had another sweep on the weekend, defeating CSU-Pueblo (180-59) and Nebraska-Kearney (185-52) in a similar fashion to Friday evening, as the Bears earned top honors in all 13 events.
“We didn’t swim as well as yesterday, but it definitely was not due to lack of effort on the girls’ part,” head coach Kelly McClanahan said. “It’s never an ideal situation to not have a warm-down pool, but it affected all three teams, not just us, so that was a pretty level playing field across the board. The girls pushed through their races and never gave up, and their technique, turns, and starts still looked great. I’m very proud of how we performed overall this weekend, top to bottom, and it should give us some much needed confidence going into our meet against CSU next Wednesday.”
Elle Gawronska, Courtney Chrzas, Laura Ramirez, and Kim Kuni opened up the meet again for the Bears, this time in the 400 yard medley relay, earning a combined time of 4:08.72 for a first place finish.
Taking another go at the 1000 free, Carleigh Barrett was still the lone racer to finish under 11 minutes, touching the wall at 10:59.28 for first place.
Karlie O’Connell notched first in the 200 free, finishing at 2:00.19, just ahead of second place finisher Brianna Salanitro (2:02.75).
Valeria Mihhailova glided into first in the 50 free, touching the wall at 25.80, just slower than her time yesterday.
Sydney Kimura and Tara Olson notched first and second in the 400 yard IM, with Kimura finishing at 4:53.83 and Olson finishing just 3/100ths of a second later (4:53.86).
It was Ramirez and Kuni for first and second place in the 100 fly, with just over a second separating the two. Ramirez touched the wall at 1:00.09, while Kuni finished at 1:01.11.
Much like yesterday’s races, O’Connell and Mihhailova took top honors in the 100 free, with times of 55.72 and 56.09, respectively.
Salanitro was the fastest racer in the 100 back, earning a time of 1:01.53 in the event.
In the 500 free, Barrett finished first yet again, besting her time from yesterday by four seconds, touching the wall at 5:18.71.
In the last individual race of the weekend, Chrzas and Olson led the way, Chrzas earning top honors at 1:10.38, and Olson following closely behind for second place with a time of 1:12.18.
Mihhailova, Salanitro, Kuni, and O’Connell closed out the meet with another win for UNC, finishing at 3:48.02 in the 400 yard free relay, 11 seconds faster than any other team.
The divers had a better day, pulling out the top-three spots in both the 1M and 3M lists.
“Today was a much better day overall,” diving coach Chelsea Popplewell said. “The girls were able to pick up their energy level a little bit and that definitely helped them.”
Savanna Meadows took first in both events, scoring yet another NCAA Zones qualifying score on the 1M (272.20), and a season-best score of 288.70 on the 3M.
“Savanna had a pretty consistent meet and is starting to utilize the little things we work on in practice.”
Coming in second place in both events was Taylor Walsh, who earned a season-best 244.85 on the 1M before coming close to her season record on 3M with a 259.15.
“Taylor was consistent again today and that’s a really good thing to see going into championship season. She was able to pull out a season best on one meter and was pretty close to yesterday’s score on three meter.”
Haley Schneider took third in both lists, with a 197.80 score on 1M and a new season-best 211.05 on 3M.
“This was a good weekend for the divers; they learned a lot about themselves and I saw a lot of what we’re able to do consistently well.”
The UNC squad is back in the Butler-Hancock Swimming Pool next Wednesday, Feb. 3, for their final home meet of the season against Colorado State. The meet will also serve as Senior Day, where two swimmers and three divers will be recognized for their accomplishments in their time with the Bears.
For more information on the Bears this season, check out UNCBears.com, visit their official Facebook page, and follow them on Twitter at @UNCOSwim_Dive.
Nebraska-Kearney:
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney women’s swimming and diving team closed out Cushing Pool with duals against Division I Northern Colorado and conference rival Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday morning.
The UNC Bears beat both UNK, 185-52, and CSUP, 180-59, with the ThunderWolves edging the Aqualopers, 137-91. Kearney finishes the dual season with a 3-6 record.
Not only was this senior day for UNK but also the final college meet in Cushing. Next season, the Aqualopers will compete at Kearney High’s new pool.
Today, seniors Zhu Zhu Lundin Daniels (Dodge City, Kans.) and Alex Prochaska (Ralston) were second and fourth, respectively, in the 50 free. Daniels swam a 26.21 with Prochaska close behind with a 27.22. Later, Daniels led UNK in the 100 butterfly (1:07.33) with Prochaska fourth in the 100 free (59.10).
Next, Tekamah senior Skylar Tatreau was fourth in the 400 individual medley (5:05.47) and 100 backstroke (1:04.56) with Omaha senior Brianna Monter fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.84).
In diving, junior Nicki De Vries (Long Beach, Calif.) scored 163.15 points on the three meter board and 184.60 at one meter.
The Aqualopers get next weekend off and then head to Grand Junction, Colo., for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 10-13.
Colorado State-Pueblo:
KEARNEY, Neb. (January 30, 2016)– For the second day in a row, Colorado State University-Pueblo swimmers glided past University of Nebraska-Kearney, 137-91 to clinch their fifth win of the season. The Pack fell to Division I’s Northern Colorado for the second consecutive day.
Rohde (1:02.01) and Irick (1:03.90) joined with Magdalena Contreras-Gomez (So., San Luis Potosi, Mexico) to sweep the top three spots in the 100 yard butterfly in their meet against the Lopers. Contreras-Gomez’s time of 1:01.69 led the way for the Pack.
Swimming news courtesy of Northern Colorado, Nebraska-Kearney, and Colorado State Pueblo Swimming & Diving.