GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's swimming and diving team will continue their early-season exploits against NCAA Division I opposition as they compete in a pair of dual meets in Utah this week.
 
On Thursday at 4 p.m., the Mavericks will visit Salt Lake City and the University of Utah's Ute Natatorium.  They will then travel on I-15 to Provo to take on BYU in a Friday afternoon (3 p.m.) dual in the Cougars' Richards Building Pool.
 
The Maverick women are off this week but will join their male counterparts at the United States Air Force Academy on Saturday, Oct. 20.
 
Both Maverick squads began their competitive season this past weekend hosting the Intermountain Shootout. 
 
The Maverick men competed against Air Force and BYU and combined to win four events and set the fastest time in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in eight different individual swimming events plus two relays.
 
They also booked two divers for the NCAA Division II Championships pre-championship qualifying meet in Ammar Hassan and Chandler Livingston.
 
Hassan won both the 1 and 3-meter events at the Intermountain Shootout, breaking his own 1-meter school record with a 6-dive score of 374.85 points to win by nearly 80 points.  The defending NCAA Division II National Champion, also easily won the 3-meter crown with 387.50 points and leads the nation in both events, according to CollegeSwimming.com.
 
Meanwhile, Livingston finished third on the 3-meter board with 295.45 points to reach the NCAA's 6-dive qualifying standard of 295.  He ranks sixth in the country.
 
Meanwhile, in the swimming events, German sophomore Torsten Rau leads the RMAC in three different events (500 free, 1650 free, 200 back).  He won the 500 free on Saturday in a 4 minutes, 44.11 seconds and leads the RMAC by nearly eight seconds with his altitude-adjusted time of 4:39.11.  He also took third in the other two events and leads the early NCAA Division II performance list in the 1650 free at 16:26.35 (converted).
 
Senior Morgan Bean also claimed victory at the Intermountain Shootout, taking the 100 fly in 50.42 seconds (50.32-converted) to lead the RMAC.
 
Meanwhile, sophomore Justin Fell, who like Bean, hails from Texas, leads the RMAC in both the 100 free (47.37) and 200 free (1:43.45) while Alaskan freshman Jake Simmons paces the conference in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys with converted times of 1:58.05 and 4:14.64.
 
Thursday's dual with Utah will consist of 11 swimming events, including the book-ending 200 medley and 400 free relays.  There will not be any diving events contested as the Utah divers are away at a training camp. 
 
Utah is starting their regular season this week with three days in as many days, starting Tuesday against No. 4 Stanford and then at No. 2 California on Wednesday before returning home to host the Mavericks.
 
BYU posted a 266-124 win over the Mavericks and triumphed 254-139 over Air Force in the Intermountain Shootout.  The Cougars were victorious in 14 different events.
 
This Friday's dual will feature 14 different swimming events spread around a pair of diving breaks.
 
Schedules of both duals can be found below.
 
Utah Dual-Thursday, 4 p.m. (Salt Lake City)
 200 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
50 Free
200 IM
Break
100 Fly
100 Free
100 Back
500 Free
Break
100 Breast
400 Free Relay
 
BYU Dual-Friday, 3 p.m. (Provo, Utah)
200 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
Diving break (10-15 min.)
100 Free 
200 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
100 Fly
Diving break (10 min.)
200 IM
200 Free Relay