#RMACsd Weekly Release: Week 8
Full Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s swimming and diving teams finish out 2016 schedule as the women’s team prepare for upcoming dual meets in Week 8 action.
Men’s Swimming & Diving
CBU traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada for the three-day UNLV Invite this week. On the first day of competition the Lancers placed five of the top six swimmers in the 500-free with Robert Griffith (4:27.07) coming in first and Alexis Ohmar (4:31.71) took second. The Lancers took second and third in the 200-IM as Scott Tolman (1:50.78) edged out teammate Justin Quiroga (1:50.91).
Zach Parry and Andrew Rotundo continue to impress on the diving boards as the two finished in the top four on the 1-meter board. Parry placed second with a score of 263.45, as Rotundo took fourth with 231.40 points. Both would place in the top five the next day on the 3-meter board as well, with Parry taking second with 277 points and Rotundo fifth with a score of 203.40.
Quiroga took first in the 400-IM for the Lancers second win of the invite, finishing with an NCAA DII consideration time of 3:56.24. Ohmar took third in the 200-free with a time of 1:39/38. The Lancers 800-free relay team took third with a NCAA B-cut time of 6:44.81.
On the final day of competition, the Lancers locked up a second-place finish with 818 points, placing behind Division I University of the Pacific. Griffith took his second first place finish of the invite in the 1650-free finishing at 15:26.47. The Lancers placed four swimmers in the top eight of the 200-butterfly, as Chris Sands (1:50.62) took second and Quiroga (1:52.25) finished fourth. In the 200-breast Tolman (1:59.44) took second with a NCAA DII B-cut time, and teammate Adrian Deloffre (2:03.21) finished third.
OBU were in Austin, Texas this week for the Texas Invitational as the lone Division II team in the field. J.P. Goyetche finished the 100-free in a time of 43.80, and the 100-back in 48.45. He also posted a time of 20.20 in the 50-free.
Colorado Mesa hosted the A3 Performance CMU Invite in Grand Junction, Colorado with Colorado Mines in attendance. The Mavericks 200-free relay team took the first victory of the invite finishing with a time of 1:22.63. In the 50-free, Sky Hirsch (20.76) took first as teammate Chris Radomski (21.18) placed fourth.
Sage D’Ambrosia (508.90) finished first on the 1-meter board, followed by Noah Macomber (506.45), Shane Gilman (501.75) took third and Eric Lammon (463.25) finished fourth as all four divers posted NCAA qualifying scores.
The Mavericks closed out the invite with wins by Hirsch (45.86) in the 100-free, Eric Berg (1:54.65) in the 200-back and Radomski (1:54.39) in the 200-fly. The Mavericks 400-free relay team also took first in a time of 3:05.00.
Colorado Mines took second as a team at the A3 Performance CMU Invite. Brennan Mays (9:33.65) and Dominic Byrne (9:38.64) finished first and second in the 1000-free. Mays and Byrne combined for another one-two finish in the 1650-free with respective times of 16:05.66 and 16:12.50. Sam Knott took first in the 200-breast with a time of 2:06.25 for the final win for the Oredigger men.
Women’s Swimming & Diving
CBU’s women’s swim team was also in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UNLV Invite. Christie Halverson had the best finish on the first day for the Lancers, taking second in the 500-free (4:53.04) followed closely by teammate Mackenzie Mergel’s third place finish (4:57.18).
Bre Schlenger and Lauren Skinner helped the Lancers on the diving boards, as both finished in the top four on the 3-meter board. Schlenger placed second with 251.65 points and Skinner took fourth with a score of 241.40. The two combined for a second and third place finish on the 1-meter board as Schlenger took second (248.45) and Skinner third (216.80).
The Lancers would place fifth overall at the UNLV Invite. Halverson (17:08.3) and Mergel (17:11.55) finished second and third in the 1650-free. Five Swimmer placed in the top 13 for the Lancers in the 200-butterfly, led by Courtney Chacon’s B-cut time of 2:04.38.
OBU traveled to Austin, Texas for the University of Texas Invitational. The Bison were the only NCAA Division II team at the meet. Juliana Cifuentes finished the 200-breast in 2:23.10, the 100-breast in 1:04.56 and the 400-IM in 4:28.61.
Colorado Mesa hosted the A3 Performance CMU Invite with the Adams State, CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Mines and Western women’s swimming teams in attendance. The Mavericks got off to a good start winning the 200-free relay in a time of 1:34.98. The 400-medley relay team also produced a win for the Mavericks, finishing in 3:50.85.
Cassie Blakeman (466.05) and Kelsey Vreeman (437.05) took first and second on the 1-meter board, as teammates Abby Smith (419.80) and Brittany Dixon (369.00) finished fourth and sixth respectively. All four divers put up NCAA qualifying scores.
The Mavericks would use their momentum from the first day to finish first overall at the invite. Mary Saiz put up a NCAA qualifying time of 1:59.86 in her first-place finish in the 200-back. Saiz also anchored the 400-free relay team to a first-place finish in 3:26.90.
Colorado Mines had a strong showing at the A3 Performance CMU Invite, taking second place overall. Mia Wood broke the Orediggers’ 500-free record with a time of 5:01.0 before breaking another school record in the 1000-free the next day (10:27.97). Wood would go onto break the school record in the 100-free in her second-place finish (52.07). A fourth Colorado Mines record was broken by Olivia Morley in the 1650-free with a time of 18:19.34. Katrin Gallup took down a fifth school record at the meet in the 200-breast, resetting her own record at 2:20.12.
Western finished third at the A3 Performance CMU Invite. Randi Yarnell broke her own school record in the 50-free with a time of 23.47 for the Mountaineers first win of the invite. She also helped the 400-medley relay team break a school record with a time of 3:55.28. Yarnell continued to break records on the second day of competition, besting her own time in the 100-fly (55.85) before winning the 200-free in 1:51.72. Yarnell continued on the third day, winning her fourth event in the 100-free (50.49).
Adams State was also in attendance in Grand Junction at the A3 Performance CMU Invite. The Grizzlies took eighth, finishing with 81 points.
Nebraska-Kearney took fourth place with 124 points at the Mutual of Omaha Invite, swimming against Division I competition.
RMAC Men's Swimmer of the Week
Robert Griffith, CBU
RMAC Women's Swimmer of the Week
Mary Saiz, CMU
RMAC Men's Diver of the Week
Sage D'Ambrosia, CMU
RMAC Women's Diver of the Week
Cassi Blakeman, CMU