GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving teams will get the opportunity to host top-level NCAA Division I opposition this weekend when the Mavericks host the eighth annual Intermountain Shootout in the El Pomar Natatorium.
 
Action will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and resumes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.  Admission is free.
 
Those who can not attend in person can follow the meet with live results, available by clicking here.  Live video streaming (natural sound audio) will also be available.  Swimming action will be one channel while the diving events can be seen on another as that portion of the competition will be conducted concurrently with the swimming events.
 
Competing against the Mavericks will be Air Force, BYU and Colorado State (women only).  Scoring will be conducted with dual-meet scoring format resulting in a head-to-head comparison with each opponent.
 
The Maverick men are coming off a 2016-17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Championship and have been picked to finish in a tie for second in this year's Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll.   They are led by RMAC Preseason Swimmer of the Year Sam Bryant, a 2-event First Team All-American at last year's NCAA Division II National Championships.  He is entered in five events for this weekend, including the 1,650 freestyle, an event in which he took fifth at last year's national meet.
 
Fellow senior Chris Radomski, also a Preseason All-RMAC pick, is entered in four individual events, including all three butterfly distances and is the top seed in the 50-yard butterfly, an event in which the Mavericks have each of the top five seeds.
 
Meanwhile, Nico Tscherner, a Gelsenkirchen, Germany native who has transferred from Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) is expected to make his Maverick debut and is entered in four backstroke and individual medley events.  He is also a Preseason All-RMAC selection after earning three NAIA All-America honors last year, including one for a NAIA National Runner-up finish in the 400 individual medley.
 
The Maverick women who finished second at last year's RMAC Championships, have two Preseason All-RMAC selections in Preseason Diver of the Year Kelsey Vreeman and freshman Maddie Pressler.
 
Vreeman took sixth at last year's NCAA Division II Championships on the 3-meter board and set the school and El Pomar Natatorium record in the 1-meter with an 11-dive mark of 468.07 points last year.
 
Pressler, who hails from Mill Creek, Wash., was a 4-event finalist at the Pacific Northwest Washington State Senior Championships for her Central Area Aquatic club team and took third in the 200 free and fourth in the 400 free at the Washington 4A State High School Championships for Henry M. Jackson.­  She is entered in the 100 and 200 free and backstroke events this weekend.
 
The Air Force Falcon men are coming off back-to-back Western Athletic Conference titles and return 10 men who earned All-WAC honors last season.  They also went a perfect 3-0 at last year's Intermountain Shootout.  The Falcon women took 10^th at the Mountain West Conference Championships in 2016-17 and were 2-2 at last year's Intermountain Shootout.
 
The BYU women took fourth at last year's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships and went 3-1 in duals at last year's Intermountain Shootout.  The Cougar men took second and return NCAA Division I Championship qualifier Payton Sorenson, the top seed in both the 50 and 100 free for this weekend's meet.
 
Colorado State finished fifth at last year's Mountain West Conference Championships, the Rams' best finish since 2009.  The Rams last competed at the Intermountain Shootout in 2015.