GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Led by a 3-meter diving win by senior
Brittany Dixon and three runner-up finishes, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks swimming and diving teams got their season underway with 19 top-5 finishes on the first day of the Intermountain Shootout on Friday evening here at the El Pomar Natatorium.
The meet against NCAA Division I foes Air Force and BYU as well as the CMU Club team is the first of the season and will continue on Saturday morning, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Dixon, a 4-time all-American, took the 3-meter title with 233.45 points over six dives.
Meanwhile, fellow senior
Noah Macomber finished second in the men's 1-meter with 273.25 points while
Chandler Livingston took fourth with 260.80 points.
In the swimming events, the Mavericks were led by freshman
Davy Brown, who finished second in the 400-yard individual medley with a clocking of four minutes, 38.17 seconds. That time, converted to 4:33.17 for altitude ranks the Aspen High School product ninth in program history.
CMU had three women in the top five in that event as
Grace Payton was fourth in 4:42.48 while
Isabelle Hansson took fifth in 4:43.62.
Meanwhile, sophomore
Lane Austin finished second in the men's 100 backstroke with a time of 50.34 while freshman teammate
Alex Bruce also turned in a top-5 finish, taking fifth in 51.96.
Austin also led off the Mavs' 200 medley relay team, which finished third in 1:32.55.
Elsewhere, the Mavericks had a pair of top-5 finishes in the men's 200 free.
Torsten Rau was fourth in 1:42.49 while fellow junior
Justin Fell took fifth in 1:43.71. Rau later finished third in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:37.20 while
Logan Ellis finished fifth in 17:05.10.
Senior
Samantha White and sophomore
Robyn Naze also had third place finishes. White won her heat of the 100 breaststroke and finished third overall in 1:05.83 while Naze helped cap the evening with a time of 18:01.01 in the 1650 free.
Freshman
Lauren White took fourth in the women's 100 back at 57.86 while sophomore
Bella Walters finished fifth in the 50 butterfly with a time of 26.95. Both Lauren and
Samantha White, who are unrelated, also teamed with
Sarah Fillerup and
Candice Rosen for a fifth place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:48.88).
Returning all-American
Mahmoud Elgayar also finished fifth in the 100 breast with a time of 57.45.
In the series of dual-meet scoring match-ups, the Maverick men trail Air Force 136-52 and BYU 125-62 but are up 159-20 over the club team. BYU is clinging to a 98-89 lead over Air Force through 10 men's events.
On the women's side, the Mavericks trail BYU 141-46 and Air Force 114-74 but are up 159-15 on the club team. BYU is leading Air Force 134-53.
