GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa continues its stay atop the men’s and women’s standings at the 2021-22 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Throughout Thursday’s evening finals section, 11 events, six women’s and five men’s, were decided inside El Pomar Natatorium on the CMU campus in Grand Junction, Colo.
Colorado Mesa leads the men’s team standings with 891 points, followed by Colorado School of Mines (658.5), Oklahoma Christian (560.5) and Adams State (113). The Mavericks’ women rank first with 1,020.5 points, while Colorado School of Mines (589.5) and Oklahoma Christian (380) rank second and third, respectively. Western Colorado holds the third-place position with 371 points, followed by CSU Pueblo (205), Nebraska-Kearney (147) and Adams State (52).
Friday evening began with the finals portion of the 500-yard freestyle events, beginning with the women’s race. Katerina Matoskova secured a first-place finish for the Mavericks and led the way in stellar fashion, earning a final time of 4:56.77. She was joined atop the podium with second and third-place finishes from teammates Amelia Kinnard and Kelsea Wright, respectively.
Oklahoma Christian led the way in the men’s portion of the 500-yard freestyle as Victor Rosado earned first place with a time of 4:30.85. Rosado was followed by a second-place performance from fellow Eagle Chase Fields, while CMU’s Kuba Kiszczak earned the bronze medal.
The Mavericks claimed yet another medal sweep in the women’s 100-yard backstroke, led by a 55.08 performance from Lauren White. Katerina Matoskova took second-place honors, followed by Davy Brown.
Not to be outdone, Colorado Mesa’s men earned three medals in the men’s section of the 100-yard backstroke. Ben Sampson was just shy of an RMAC Championships meet record but claimed gold with a time of 47.44. Just behind Sampson was Lane Austin, followed by Andrew Scoggin in third place.
CMU’s Lily Borgenheimer provided the fireworks in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke, setting a meet and pool record with a first-place time of 1:01.75. The previous meet record was 1:02.20, set in 2017 by Alena Rumiantceva of California Baptist. The previous pool record was set by Utah’s Stina Colleou in the 2014 season. Western Colorado’s Addison O’Donnell completed the race in second place, while Emily Moreland earned a bronze medal for the Mavs.
Oklahoma Christian earned two medals in the men’s portion of the 100-yard breaststroke, led by JT Amrein’s first-place performance. Amrein touched the wall first with a time of 53.14, marking a RMAC meet record and an El Pomar Natatorium pool record. Mahmoud Elgayar finished in second place, while Felix Berling registered a third-place outing.
Cheyenne Parks headlined the women’s 200-yard butterfly event with a time of 2:02.03, earning the Eagles 20 points in the standings and a gold medal for herself. Colorado School of Mines’ Erin Taggart finished in second, followed by CMU’s Bella Walters.
The Mavericks earned two of the top-three spots in the men’s 200 butterfly race with a first-place performance from Dejan Urbanek (1:47.21) and a third-place outing from Jake Simmons. The silver medal went to Mines’ Charles Burrough, who trailed by Urbanek by less than half a second.
Ali Lange claimed a RMAC Championship record with a top performance in the women’s one-meter dive, where she scored 466.95. Lange’s outing bested the previous record of 461.55, set by former Maverick Brittany Dixon in 2019. In addition to Lange, Jolynn Harris and Kyra Apodaca finished second and third, respectively.
In the final women’s event of the evening, Colorado Mesa took gold in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Lauren White, Kelsea Wright, Matoskova and Borgenheimer set a pool record for the Mavs with a time of 7:28.37. Oklahoma Christian claimed a silver medal in the event, while Western Colorado secured the bronze medal.
Oklahoma Christian’s team of Heredia, Fields, Caleb Musser and Rosado fell just shy of a pool record but still managed to claim a gold in the men’s 800-yard freestyle relay event. The Eagles’ team combined for a time of 6:36.52, besting the second-place Mavericks by over three seconds. Colorado School of Mines rounded out the top-three teams in the relay race.
Saturday’s fourth and final day of competition at the RMAC Swimming and Diving Championships at 9 a.m. MT with the 100-yard freestyle.
Each event at the RMAC Championships will be broadcast live on the
RMAC Network. For more information regarding the final two days of events, fans can head to the
RMAC Swimming and Diving Championships page.