Courtesy: Northern Colorado Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – There’s no debate about it! Northern Colorado is the undisputed best Swim and Dive program in the state this season following a 113-91 dual win at rival Colorado State.
Head coach Lisa Ebeling’s squad picked up nine wins in 13 races en route to the program’s first-ever win against the Rams.
The Bears kicked off the night with back-to-back first-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay and the 1,000-yard freestyle.
With her performance in the 1,000 free, junior Anna Austin continued her dominance in the long-distance events in 2020-21. Her time of 10:33.69 was also a season-best for the Arvada native. Unsurprisingly, Austin also won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.05.
Freshman Chelaine Van De Westhuizen has kept her momentum going since arriving on campus in the middle of the season. Touching the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.63, she picked up her first individual win as a Bear, while also aiding in the winning effort in the 200 medley relay.
Saana Liikonen accounted for three of UNC’s victories on Friday evening. Anchoring both winning relays, Liikonen showcased her speed once more in the sprints, taking home the 50-yard freestyle at 23.86.
Northern Colorado’s other speedster, Madelyn Moore, got her turn in the 100-yard freestyle. The junior from Bermuda clocked in a time of 51.70 and set the tone in the lead-off spot in both relays.
Paula Nunez Blazquez turned in one of her best efforts of the season. With a 4:35.89 in the 400-yard IM, the Spaniard kept a run of five straight wins during the meet going.
In one of the closest races of the night, Katelyn Bergin made sure to outswim CSU’s Jennae Frederick. Bergin touched the wall just .17 seconds ahead of the Ram, clocking in at 57.28. She would go on to help the Bears cap off the historic evening, swimming the third leg of the 200 free relay.
DECK TALK
Lisa Ebeling, Head Coach
“Tonight was another big step for our team. CSU is a strong program and historically has been way out of our league. This was a fun win for us to close out the dual meet season. Now it’s time for the girls to fine-tune for WAC Championship and reap the rewards of their hard work this season.”
WHAT’s AHEAD
The Bears will head to Denver’s First Chance Meet on February 13, as one last stop before the WAC Championships, which are slated for February 17, in St. George, Utah.
To stay up to date on all things UNC Swim and Dive, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.
Courtesy: Colorado State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A senior year with little training is never in the plans. Neither is a pandemic.
What it meant was a season without much stress and little pressure. There was only so much captain Olivia Chatman could control, so she just let it all roll.
Friday at the Moby Pool, it carried her into a memorable finish, a win in her final individual race at home – the 100-yard backstroke — and her first one ever in her home tank in the lone dual the Rams hosted this season. Not that she gave much thought to it being her last hurrah.
“I didn’t really think about it that much,” Chatman said. “I had really wanted Woody (coach Christopher Woodard) to let me exhibition the 100 breast, which I don’t swim the breast, and then I was like, I don’t know if I want my last event in Moby to be the 100 breaststroke. Then he ended up not putting me in it.
“It just doesn’t really feel real yet. That’s the only way I can describe it. Everything is so in the moment right now, you’re just taking it as it comes, and that’s how it felt.”
The team result was not as sweet, dropping a 113-91 to Northern Colorado as the Rams went 1-4 this season, but the turnaround is fast for the Mountain West Championships looming in just 13 days in Las Vegas.
For Chatman, the pandemic has made it all – a race, a team, a season – a blessing. With not much to expect why do so. Show up, do your best and see what happens. What happened for her was a 57.65, just the second time she’s notched a 57 when she’s not rested.
That’s something to build on for her.
“Usually I struggled at dual meets in season,” she said. “I tend to lift on the heavier side, so I struggle through the season, then at the end, I’m usually pretty good. That’s been really, really encouraging.”
You don’t have to be a senior to appreciate it all, either. For the Rams’ freshmen, it’s been a strange welcome to the world of collegiate swimming. The idea is to come in and find your place, and to do so, that requires practice and team bonding. Both have been short in supply at times.
Still, Woodard has been impressed with the moxie the group has shown in tough circumstances.
“The fact that all of them are still here and still battling when a number of freshmen across the country have gone home or transferred, I’m happy,” he said. “I think they believe in each other, and I think they’re really starting to jell. I’m impressed that they’re not afraid to race. They’re not taking a back seat and saying one of the upperclassmen will take the lead here. I think they’re really cognizant they can make an impact now.”
Anika Johnson, part of the class, helped lead the best finish of the day for the Rams, pacing a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 freestyle, touching at 1:54.65. Her classmate, Kendra Preski was right behind, with Sarah Mundy coming in third.
It was her second victory of the season, both coming in the event in a season she’s glad she had, pitfalls and all.
“I feel like we’ve definitely lost out on a lot of team bonding, but just swimming together, we’ve gotten so close,” she said. “That’s been fun. Just meeting people has been super hard. I do feel part of the team, but obviously it’s hard to adjust to a new team when you can’t get closer than 6 feet to them.”
Yet through it all, the group has found some success from which to build, and Woodard isn’t the only one excited about their future in the program.
They are, too. They all hope a normal season is on the horizon, but for the near future, Johnson is poised to make the most of her first Mountain West Championships.
“I feel like all of this is super unexpected. I did not come in and expect to be swimming well,” she said. “Not with all the pauses in the season. I’m so excited for conference. I think it’s going to be super fun.”
Woodard knows the Rams are going to see teams and swimmers at conference they haven’t seen in quite some time, and there is definitely some talent in the field, and many of those teams have had more chances to race this year.
They can’t change that, and the process of beginning taper will happen almost immediately, with the most recent results steering his plan in certain directions. Woodard saw positives for sure, but definitely corrections to make.
“I saw them getting out in races. I think I saw some mistakes in the back half of races – double breathing, not hitting turns, not kicking enough out of the break,” he said. “There’s definitely things we need to work on. It’s hard to work on mental toughness when you’re only nine days out, but we definitely need to work on our mental toughness so we can be a little sharper. Overall, I’m still happy. There were some great times and some great concerns.”
Those were the only two race victories of the day for Colorado State, yet there were some solid times posted by the squad. Abbey Owenby posted a pair of runner-up finishes in the 500 and 1,000 freestyles, also throwing in an exhibition swim in the 400 individual medley for run. Kristina Friedrichs, Olivia LeBlanc, Katelyn Bartley, Jennae Frederick, Elsa Litteken, Kate Meunier and Emma Breslin all posted top-three finishes.