GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University swimming teams won all six events, all with meet-record times, in a phenomenal first night of action on Thursday at the TYR/CMU Invitational in the El Pomar Natatorium.
 
The nationally-ranked Mavericks also set eight new school-records, including relay lead-off splits, and set three new pool records while combining for an incredible 17 automatic or provisional NCAA Division II National Championship qualifying times, their primary goal for the 4-day meet being contested for the 12^th time since 2010, yet under a new sponsorship name.

Secondarily, the Mavericks also opened up team-scoring leads over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado School of Mines, the NCAA Division I Northern Arizona women and the rest of the field.
 
The Maverick women, ranked a program-best third in the Division II CSCAA Poll, racked up 207 points in three events to lead by 52 over Mines and another 16 over Northern Arizona, the 9-time defending Western Athletic Conference champions.  Western Colorado is fourth in the 7-team meet with 92, ahead of CSU Pueblo (23), Adams State (17) and the CMU Club Team (16).
 
The CMU men, ranked fourth in Division II, lead Mines, 212-194.  Adams State is in third with 84 while the CMU Club Team is fourth out of four men's teams with 28.
 
Records were going down fast and furiously throughout the night, especially in the relays, which book-ended the session.
 
The Mavs claimed the first two events with record trifectas of new school, pool and meet marks.
 
In the women's 200-yard medley relay, Lauren White, Lily Borgenheimer, freshman Kiara Borchardt and Ruby Bottai combined for a time of one minute, 41.73 seconds to qualify for the national championships while taking down the former pool and meet record of 1:42.46, set eight years ago by Cal Baptist and last year's school-record time of 1:42.47. 
 
White, also broke her own 50 back school-record of 25.69, completing the first leg in 25.63 seconds.
 
Minutes later, the Maverick men's medley relay quartet of Ben Sampson, Kuba Kiszczak, Dejan Urbanek and Lane Austin, claimed victory, three new relay records and an NCAA qualifying time of 1:26.73 to clip the 2016 pool record of 1:26.80, set by Lindenwood.  The Mavericks also lowered their year-old meet record of 1:27.04 and the CMU record of 1:27.00 that Sampson, Urbanek and Austin were all a part of en-route to a sixth place finish at the 2022 national championships with Mahmoud Elgayar.
 
Sampson also broke his own 50 back record with a 21.43-second opening split.
 
Redshirt senior Amelia Kinnard then broke her own CMU record in the 1,000 free, the first and only individual discipline of the night.  She posted a time of 10:08.76 and also broke the former meet record of 10:11.78, which had been set three years ago by Colorado School of Mines legend Mia Wood, who still holds the pool mark of 10:06.14. Kinnard's altitude-adjusted mark of 9:57.36, was also more than seven seconds quicker than her former CMU record time of 10:04.53, set en-route to victory at last year's RMAC Championships.
 
She and freshman Haven Hinkle, who finished third in 10:32.76 (10:21.36-converted) were also both under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.  Hinkle now ranks seventh in program history.
 
Amelia Fish, another Maverick freshman, also turned in a solid time of 10:40.21 to finish fourth.
 
The Maverick men were just as strong in the 1,000 free as sophomore Jacob Troescher, led a 1-2-4-5 finish with a meet record time of 9:27.33 (9:15.93-converted), one of three NCAA "B" cut times that the Mavs set in the race.  Troescher moved up seven spots to third in CMU history with his time, which bested Torsten Rau's 2018 meet record of 9:28.04.
 
Gavin Anderson, who ranks second in program history at 9:15.00, was second in 9:30.52 (9:19.12-converted) on Wednesday while Austin Mondello also turned in a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 9:40.18 (9:28.78-converted) to finish third.  Freshman Gavyn Tatge was fifth in 9:44.39 (9:32.99-converted).
 
Action then returned to relays as the CMU women obliterated the pool, meet and school-records.
 
Veterans Katerina Matoskova and Lauren White book-ended the stellar effort of 7:20.96 (7:16.16-converted) with freshman Olivia Hansson and Ada Qunell swimming the middle legs.  Their time was more than seven seconds quicker than the pool record of 7:20.96 that White and Matoskova were a part of at last season's RMAC Championships.  Wednesday's time was also more than eight seconds faster than last year's meet-winning and record time of 7:29.22 and also eclipsed the former school-record mark of 7:21.12, even without the 4.8-second altitude adjustment.  The Mavs finished third at the 2022 national championships with that mark.
 
CMU's "B" Team of Lily Borgenheimer, Bottai, Logan Anderson and Sophia Bains, which placed fourth, also went well under the national qualifying standard as both Matoskova (1:50.55/1:49.35-converted) and Borgenheimer (1:51.20/1:50.00-converted) both went well under the NCAA "B" cut qualifying time of 1:53.08 with their lead-off 200 free splits.
 
The Maverick men then strategically split their best swimmers and sent them off as the lead-off legs on their four different relay teams, a move that paid off as all four set NCAA provisional qualifying 200 free splits.
 
Meanwhile, the "A" squad of Matheus Laperriere, John Walgast, Elgayar and Mondello combined for a meet record relay time of 6:38.90, more than a second quicker than last year's winning and former meet record mark of 6:39.98.
 
Laperriere had set the CMU and meet 200 free standard of 1:37.63 (1:36.43-converted) during last year's relay, although Sampson, who led off the exhibition "D" team in 1:36.78 (1:35.58-converted) lowered both marks while just missing the pool standard of 1:36.73, held by 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Clark Smith, set in 2013 during Clark's Regis Jesuit High School career.
 
On Wednesday, Laperriere completed his leg in 1:37.13 (1:35.93-converted) while Kiszczak touched in 1:38.81 (1:37.61-converted) as the first swimmer of the "B" team, which finished third overall in 6:43.26 (6:38.46-converted).
 
Urbanek was even faster on the exhibition "C" team, finishing his leg in 1:38.26 (1:36.86-converted) to move up two spots to fourth in CMU history behind Sampson, Laperriere and Kiszczak.
 
Thursday's portion of the meet will begin at 10 a.m. with preliminary heats in the 500 free, 200 individual medley and 50 free.  The finals in those events, as well as the 200 free relay, will then begin at 5 o'clock during the evening session.
 
The meet runs through Saturday.