GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving programs will resume their season this weekend as they head to the United States Air Force Academy just north of Colorado Springs for a series of meets in the Cadet Natatorium on Friday and Saturday.

The Maverick women (1-1, 1-0 RMAC) will compete on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m.  in a pair of quadrangulars against the host Falcons (1-1), Northern Colorado (1-1) and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado School of Mines (0-0).

The Maverick men (0-0) will follow with triangulars against the host Falcons and Mines at 7 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday as Northern Colorado does not have a men's team.  Both of their foes also bring in 0-0 team records.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, fans will not be permitted to attend.  However, their will be a live stream on the Falcons' YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/c/AirForceFalcons).

Meet Details/Scoring
 
Friday's meets will include action in 13 events while Saturday's competition will include action in 12 events.  Both formats can be listed below.
 
Although all four schools will compete in the pool at the same time, results will be split apart for team scoring purposes.   The traditional NCAA dual-meet scoring format (9-4-3-2-1-0 for individual events, 11-4-2-0 for relay events) will be used for each leg of the triangular/quadrangular.  Teams can only score three individuals and two relays in each event and individual athletes are limited to scoring in four events, three of which can be individual disciplines, on each day.
 
Friday's Event Order

1. 200 Medley Relay
2. 1000 Free
3. 200 Free
4. 50 Free
5. 200 IM
6. 1M Diving
7. 100 Fly
8. 100 Free
9. 100 Back
10. 500 Free
11. 3M Diving
12. 100 Breast
13. 400 Free Relay

Saturday's Event Order

1. 400 Medley Relay
2. 200 Free
3. 50 Free
4. 200 Fly
5. 1M Diving
6. 100 Free
7. 200 Back
8. 400 IM
9. 3M Diving
10. 500 Free
11. 200 Breast
12. 200 Free Relay

Resuming the season

This weekend's meet will be the first time since November that Mavericks have seen outside competition and will be the first of the entire season for the Maverick men's team as a complete unit.
CMU's women enter the 2021 portion of the season with a 1-1 overall and 1-0 RMAC record after dominating a home dual 190-90 against Western Colorado on Oct. 31 before falling on the road to Northern Colorado 145-117 more than two months ago on Nov. 5.

CMU's men were slated to compete at BYU on Nov. 7, but had that meet canceled.

Both squads were slated to host their annual A3 Performance Invitational later that month before that meet was also canceled. However, four Maverick men did compete in the Maverick Open, a low-key series of time trials with three athletes from the University of Wyoming on Nov. 21.  Several CMU women also competed that day in an instrasquad scrimmage format that day.

RMAC Three-peat favorites
 
Both Maverick teams were picked big favorites to win their third consecutive RMAC title, according to the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, released back in October.
 
After setting a championship scoring record of 1,171 ½ points to claim the 2019-20 RMAC Championship title by 419 ½ points, the Maverick women received all seven possible first place votes and topped the poll with 49 points. in the poll, which asked all eight women's coaches to rank their opposition 1-7 without voting for their own team. 
 
Mines received Maverick Coach Mickey Wender's first place vote and were picked second with 42 points.
 
The Maverick men were also picked to three-peat, receiving all four possible first place votes and 16 points in the poll.  Mines received Wender's first place vote and checked in second out of five teams with 13 points.
 
In 2019-20, the Maverick men won 13 of the 21 individual events to take the conference title with a strong scoring total of 1,166 points.  In 2018-19, the Mavericks set a meet-championship record of 1,261 points.
 
Early Season Honors
 
Although competition to date has been limited, the Mavericks have fared well in terms of RMAC Athlete of the Week honors, picking up all four that they have been eligible for so far this season.
 
On Nov. 2, Maverick juniors Lily Borgenheimer and Jolynn Harris were named as the RMAC Swimmer and Divers of the Week, respectively, for their winning efforts in the dual win over Western.
 
A week later, freshman Katerina Matoskova was named as the RMAC Swimmer of the Week after winning the 200-yard freestyle while placing second in two other events against Northern Colorado.  Diving events were not held in that meet.
 
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Elgayar was named as the RMAC Men's Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 23 after setting three NCAA Division II Championship provisional times during the Maverick Open time trial meet.
 
RMAC Winning Streaks on the line
 
The Mavericks will have a chance to extend their long RMAC dual-meet winning streaks this weekend against Mines.
 
The CMU women are riding a streak of 23 consecutive RMAC dual meet victories, a streak that dates back nearly five calendar years to Jan. 22, 2016, when the Mavericks defeated Western, 155-144.  They have defeated Mines seven times in that streak.
 
The Mavericks went 6-0 in RMAC dual meets last season and in 2017-18 while going 5-0 in 2018-19.  They were also 4-0 in 2016-17 and sport an impressive 60-7-1 all-time RMAC dual meet mark, good for an .890 winning percentage.
 
CMU's men, who have fewer RMAC opponents to compete against, especially close to home, have won their last eight RMAC duals dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.  They are 30-10 (.750) all-time in RMAC duals and have posted a winning RMAC dual record in each of their last ten seasons after going 0-3 in their inaugural 2019-20 season.
 
RMAC Leaders
 
Despite the limited competition opportunities thus far, the Mavericks have combined to hold the fastest times in the conference this season in 17 events (14 women, 3 men) and all but two of the 19 different disciplines that they have competed in this year.
 
All of CMU's individual leaders with their altitude-adjusted times are listed below.
 
Women
100 Free- Lauren White (53.67)
200 Free- Katerina Matoskova (1:55.82)
500 Free- Grace Payton (5:12.17)
1000 Free- Robyn Naze (10:41.80)
50 Back*- Grace Payton (27.22)
100 Back- Lauren White (57.47)
200 Back- Sarah Fillerup (2:03.65)
100 Breast- Lily Borgenheimer (1:05.65)
200 Breast- Lily Borgenheimer (2:15.57)
100 Fly- Grace Payton (58.80)
200 Fly- Isabelle Hansson (2:09.89)
200 IM- Lily Borgenheimer (2:08.14)
400 Free Relay- Logan Anderson, Abbey Selin, Kelsea Wright, Bret Congdon (3:35.81)
200 Medley Relay- Grace Payton, Kennedy Bright, Maddie Pressler, Natalie Saul (1:48.23)

Men
50 Free- Ben Sampson (20.77)
100 Breast- Mahmoud Elgayar (54.86)
200 Breast- Mahmoud Elgayar (1:59.26)
200 IM- Mahmoud Elgayar (1:50.47)
 
*-Non-Championship Event
 
NCAA Qualifiers
 
Lily Borgenheimer and Mahmoud Elgayar headline the list or RMAC leaders and are the only two NCAA qualifiers from the conference thus far.
 
Borgenheimer, the 2019 NCAA Division II runner-up while at Minnesota State, broke CMU's 200 breaststroke school-record in her Maverick debut, posting the altitude-adjusted time of 2:15.57 against Western.  That time is still the only NCAA provisional qualifying mark by a RMAC women this season (all events) and ranks the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin native second nationally.
 
Meanwhile, Elgayar set all three of his NCAA Championship "B" cut times during the Maverick Open on Nov. 21.  The Cairo, Egypt native, currently stands third nationally in the 200 breast, seventh in the 100 breast and 13^th in the 200 individual medley.  He is the only RMAC man to have set a "B" cut time thus far in 2020-21.
 
Series Histories
 
An overwhelming majority of the Maverick men's duals in the RMAC have come against Mines.  The Mavericks are 19-5 all-time against them and have won each of the last 13 duals against the Orediggers.  Like this weekend, many of those meetings have come in a neutral setting, where the Mavs hold a 10-2 series lead. 
 
In 2019-20, the Mavericks beat Mines, 195-99 at Air Force on Nov. 1 before claiming a 185-149 victory in a 2-day (Jan. 10-11) home dual at the El Pomar Natatorium.
 
The Mavericks will be looking for their first ever win over Division I Air Force, which has won all 20 previous meetings to date, including two last season.  The Falcons, who are 10-0 against CMU at home, defeated the Mavericks, 171-123 at the Cadet Natatorium on Nov. 1 after winning, 250-142 in a 2-day competition as part of the Intermountain Shootout in the El Pomar Natatorium on Oct. 4 and 5.
 
On the women's side, the Mavericks are an impressive 25-3 all-time against Mines after winning the last seven and 25 of the last 26 duals since Oct. 19, 2007.  Two of those victories came last season.

The Maverick women are 0-16 all-time against Division I Air Force, who they last faced on Nov. 1, 2019 at the Cadet Natatorium.  The Falcons won that match-up, 178.5-117.5.
 
This weekend's match-ups with Northern Colorado will be the second and third of the season for CMU, an opponent the Mavericks had not faced for nearly four previous years.  Including this season's 145-117 decision, the closest in the entire series, the Bears hold an 11-1 all-time record against the Mavericks.  CMU won the last neutral-site encounter with UNC, winning 145-116 on Nov. 12, 2016 at Golden is the CSM Natatorium.
 
About the Falcon Men
 
This weekend's meets will be the second and third of the season for the Air Force Falcon men, who won 13 of 16 events in a non-team scored dual against Wyoming at home on Dec. 3.  Three Falcons in Isaac Gwin, Corey Shepard and Adam Grimm were double-winners.  Gwin won the 100 back and 200 IM while Shepard took victory in the 50 and 100 free.  Grimm was the distance star, winning the 500 and 1000 free.
 
Senior Cole Armagost was named as the WAC Diver of the Week on Dec. 8 after he won the 1-meter event with a NCAA Division I Zones qualifying score of 307.73 points in the dual against Wyoming.
 
In 2019-20, the Falcons went 9-4 in the dual-meet portion of the season and then set a modern WAC (Western Athletic Conference) scoring record of 864 points to win the conference title.  Head Coach Rob Clayton's squad was then in eighth place at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships before the rest of that meet and the NCAA Division I National Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
About the Falcon Women
 
The Falcons split a pair of decisions in a season-opening Dec. 4 home tri-dual against Mountain West Conference foes.  They dropped a 165-135 decision to Wyoming but were able to record a 177-123 win over Colorado State.
 
Sefilina Maile was named as the MWC Swimmer of the Week on Dec. 8 for the third in her career.  She won both the 50 and 100 free in the tri dual and anchored the Falcons' winning 200 medley relay team.
 
In 2019-20, head coach Colleen Murphy's team went 13-5 in dual meets and finished tenth at the MWC Championships.
 
About the Bears
 
The Bears and fifth-year head coach Lisa Ebeling will also enter this weekend with a 1-1 record but will be competing outside of Greeley for the first time this season.  After defeating the Mavericks on Nov. 5, the Bears dropped a 144-118 decision to Wyoming a month later.
 
Anna Austin won both the 500 and 1,000 free against the Mavericks and then took victory in the 1000 free and 200 butterfly against Wyoming.  Katelyn Bergin also won the 100 fly against Wyoming after swimming on the winning 200 medley relay team.  Madelyn Moore and Saana Liikonen also went 1-2 in both the 50 and 100 free.
 
In 2019-20, the Bears went 2-5 in dual meets and finished sixth amongst eight teams at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Houston, Texas.
 
Petra Kis, who did not compete against CMU earlier this year, won the 400-yard individual medley WAC title for the second straight year last season while Moore also earned a spot on the All-WAC first team in the 50 free.
 
About the Orediggers
 
This weekend's meets will be the first of the season for the Mines men and women, although the Orediggers have had multiple intra-squad scrimmage racing opportunities.
 
In 2019-20, both Oredigger squads finished second behind the Mavericks at the RMAC Championships in their initial season under now second-year head coach Claire McDaniel.  Their women were 4-6 while the men went 2-4 in dual meets last season.
 
Charles Burroughs was a 2020 CSCAA All-American and NCAA Qualifier in the 100 and 200 fly.  He was also named as the 2019-20 RMAC Freshman of the Year and took second in both events at last year's RMAC Championships.  Peyton Scherschel won the 100 breast last season and was the 2019 RMAC Swimmer of the Year.
 
Olivia Lomax is expected to lead the Oredigger women after earning CSCAA All-America honors and the RMAC title in the 800 free relay last season.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will be off next weekend before heading west to Utah for duals at BYU on Jan. 22 and the University of Utah on Jan. 23.
 
The Mavericks will then host the RMAC Championships for the second straight year, starting on Feb. 17.