GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's swimming diving and team won both relays and nine of the 16 total events but fell just short to NCAA Division I Wyoming, 156-144 in an inter-divisional dual on Saturday afternoon at the Mavericks' El Pomar Natatorium.
The Mavericks, ranked third in NCAA Division II according to the CSCAA Top 25 Dual Meet Rankings Poll, also combined for five NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying times in what was by their best-ever effort in four all-time duals against the Cowgirls, who had won 229-70 last year (Nov. 5) in a triangular with Colorado State in Laramie, Wyoming.
Wyoming won seven events and had 13 second-place finishes in Saturday's contest.
2022 NCAA Division II 200-yard breaststroke National Champion
Lily Borgenheimer led the Mavericks, winning all three of her individual events with NCAA "B" cut times after teaming with
Lauren White,
Kiara Borchardt and
Logan Anderson for a 2.3-second win in the 400-yard medley relay as the Mavericks got out to a hot start with a time of 3:50.92.
Borgenheimer also won the 100 breast in 1:03.14 (1:02.94-coverted) and dominated her specialty in 2:16.56 (2:15.36-converted) before closing out her day by winning the 200 individual medley in 2:05.40 (2:04.20-converted). She won the 200 breast by 7.72 seconds.
Freshman
Olivia Hansson also had a NCAA "B" cut time, winning the 200 free by six tenths of a second in 1:54.05 (1:52.85-converted). The Swede also turned in a NCAA "B" cut time of 5:06.71 (5:01.71-converted) to palace second in the 500 free.
Minutes after Hansson's 200 free win,
Davy Brown and
Lauren White went 1-2 in the 100 back before Borgenheimer led four Mavericks the top five of the 100 breast as the Mavs built a 57-36 lead through five events, winning four of them.
In the 100 back, Brown touched in 57.59 seconds while White was second in 57.76.
Sarah Fillerup also finished fourth in 1:00.31. White would come back to take a victory of her own, claiming the 200 back by more than 2 ½ seconds in 2:05.98.
The Mavs trailed by 25 points (135-110) at the second break, before winning each of the final three events as
Kyra Apodaca took the 1-meter diving victory with a 6-dive score of 247.05 points after finishing third on the 3-meter with a 6-dive score of 239.60 points, part of her overall 11-dive total of 397.15 points.
Meanwhile, Borgenheimer and Brown went 1-2 in the 200 IM as Brown out-touched Wyoming's Carly Palmer for second in 2:09.32.
Hansson, White,
Amelia Kinnard and
Ada Qunell then won the 800 free relay to cap the meet with a time of 7:40.97.
The Maverick men also won eight events but came up 11 points short of the Cowboys, 154 ½-143 ½.
Both Maverick squads will resume their competitive season when they host the TYR CMU Invitational from Nov. 16-19.
