GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After an incredible mid-season invitational performance that vaulted the top-ranked (women) and No. 3 (men) Colorado Mesa University swimming & diving teams to their highest ever national rankings, the Mavericks will resume their season this weekend with a pair of duals at Division I Utah on Friday afternoon and Saturday in Salt Lake City.
 
The Mavericks will be competing in just their second dual meet of the season when they take on the Pac-12 Conference's Utes in the Ute Natatorium.
 
Friday's dual will begin at 2 p.m. while Saturday's will commence at 11 a.m.
 
Meet Format
 
Nineteen different events will be contested throughout the weekend with nine swimming events scheduled for Friday's competition while eight others will be held Saturday.  Swimmers will be permitted to compete in up to four events per day.  The 1 and 3-meter diving events, contested under the 6-dive format, will also be contested in Saturday's dual, but the divers are not slated to compete on Friday. 
 
The exact order of the swimming events can be found below.
 
Friday
400 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
Break
400 IM
200 Free Relay
 
Saturday
200 Medley Relay
500 Free
Break
100 Fly
100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
Break
200 IM
400 Free Relay
 
Last Time Out (Swimming)
 
The Mavericks were last in competitive action more than six weeks ago, when the swimmers hosted the TYR/CMU Invitational in mid-November (Nov. 16-19).
 
The Maverick men won 18 of the 19 swimming events and set 11 new school-records during the TYR meet, winning it by 243 points ahead of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado School of Mines, which finished second out of four teams.
 
The CMU women claimed victory in 12 events en-route to a 62-point win over Division I Northern Arizona, the 9-time defending Western Athletic Conference Championships, and the rest of 7-team women's field.
 
The CMU women's swimmers also set nine new school-records, including new marks in all five relays.
 
The Mavericks also had a multitude of individual swimmers set NCAA Division II Championship qualification times, including Ben Sampson and Lily Borgenheimer, who both set "A" cut or automatic qualifying times. The Mavs also booked a lane in all ten relay events for the 2022-23 NCAA Division II National Championships and had an incredible 33 (17 men/16 women) different swimmers set at least one NCAA "B" cut or provisional qualifying time in their individual events, many of which rank quite high on the national performance lists.
 
Complete recaps of each of the four days of action can be seen at the links below:
 
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
 
Last Time Out (Diving)
 
While the swimmers were in action at home and against Northern Arizona's women, the CMU divers travelled to Flagstaff, competing at Northern Arizona's Lumberjack Diving Invite on Nov. 18 and 19.
 
Defending National Isaiah Cheeks completed his 2023 pre-championship qualification meet requirements on the first day (Friday, Nov. 18), turning in a 6-dive qualifying score of 304.60 points off the 1-meter board.  He and four Maverick teammates were the only men in the field.  Meanwhile, in the women's 3-meter event, freshman Kenya Meyer led four Maverick women with a new collegiate best 6-dive score of 213.60 points. 
 
On the second day (Saturday, Nov. 19), Kyra Apodaca set her first NCAA qualifying score of the season, turning in an 11-dive score of 393.45 points over 11 dives on the 1-meter.  She will now need a 6-dive format score from another meet to earn a trip back to the national meet.
 
With his national pre-championship qualification already out of the way, Cheeks also set an 11-dive score of 510.55 points on the 3-meter to lead the Maverick men's contingent on the second day.
 
Complete Recaps of both days can be seen below:
 
Day 1
Day 2
 
At the Top of the Nation
 
Largely, because of their TYR/CMU Invitational performances, the Maverick women moved into the No. 1 spot of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)'s NCAA Division II Top 25 Dual Meet Rankings for the first time in program history.  Meanwhile, the Maverick men were ranked third a new program best.
 
Those polls were announced on Dec. 23.
 
CMU's women received ten of the 12 first place votes to top the poll of member coaches and select media outlets, with 298 points.  They dethroned Indianapolis, which slipped to second with 290 points and the other two first place votes.  The rest of the women's top five includes Nova Southeastern, Tampa and Drury.  West Florida, Grand Valley State, West Chester, Wingate and Northern Michigan round out the top ten.
 
CMU's men received 269 points in the poll and sit only behind Drury (297), which picked up nine first place votes, and Indianapolis (291), which garnered the other three first place votes.  McKendree and Findlay sit behind the Mavs while RMAC rivals Oklahoma Christian and Mines are now ranked ninth and 13^th.
 
National Record
 
The biggest highlight of the TYR/CMU Invitational was turned in by Maverick redshirt sophomore Ben Sampson, who posted an all-time NCAA Division II Championship record time of 1:39.53 (altitude-adjusted) in the 200 back, one of five national-leading times he set during the meet.  His actual time of 1:40.73 was also under the 8-plus year-old mark of 1:40.74, set by Matthew Austin of Queens close to sea-level in Geneva, Ohio during the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships.  With the 1.2-second altitude-adjustment available, Sampson moved up two spots on the all-time rankings with his record-smashing performance that puts him atop this year's Division II performance list by a massive 3.29 seconds over Drury's Nathan Bighetti.
 
At the time, Sampson's effort was the second-best mark in all of American collegiate swimming this season and still puts him third on the all-division collegiate list, according to Swimcloud.  Only Georgia's Ian Grum and California's Destin Lasco have gone faster.
 
Sampson also turned in superb altitude-adjusted time of 45.96 seconds in the 100 back during the TYR/CMU Invitational, a mark that ranks him fourth in Division II history and second amongst American Division II swimmers of all-time.  Only 2022 National Champion Finn Howard of Queens, which moved to Division I this year, is ahead of him on the American list.
 
Sampson leads this year's Division II Championship qualification list in the 100 back by more than a full second (1.03) in that event over Bighetti.
 
Sampson also leads Division II in both the 200 IM (1:43.76) and 400 IM (3:45.23) this season, leading those performance lists by 1.10 and 0.79 seconds, respectively.
 
He leads the 200 free as well at 1:35.58.
 
Sampson was the national runner-up in the 200 back and the fourth-place finisher in the 100 back at last year's NCAA Division II National Championships, highlighting his RMAC Swimmer of the Year season a year ago.
 
He's not the only one
 
Maverick redshirt senior Lily Borgenheimer also turned in some fine times during the TYR/CMU Invitational and leads the country in two different individual events while ranking second and third in two others.
 
After becoming the first Maverick swimmer to win a national title in March of 2022, Borgenheimer has had a fine title-defending season thus far and paces the country in the 200 breast, the event she won the national title in last year, by 2.56 seconds after swimming to an altitude-adjusted mark of 2:10.57 in November.
 
She also leads the country in the 400 IM at 4:17.23, good for a 1.91-second national lead.
 
Borgenheimer also sits second in the country in the 200 IM at 2:00.96 and third in the 100 breast at 1:01.87.
 
Meanwhile, Katerina Matoskova also put up a national-leading time of 1:57.12 in the 200 back while Amelia Kinnard did the same in the 1000 free (9:57.36).
 
In total the Mavs, lead Division II in 14 different events, including nine individual (5 men's, 4 women's) and five relay (4 women's, 1 men's) events.
 
Relay Record Rewrite
 
The Mavericks set new school-records in 20 different events during the TYR/CMU Invitational, including six new relay marks. 
 
The Maverick women re-wrote the entire relay record book setting new school records in all five relay events.  The new altitude-adjusted record times are 1:33.21 (200 Free), 3:21.84 (400 Free), 7:16.16 (800 Free), 1:41.73 (200 Medley) and 3:42.69 (400 Medley).  The Mavs currently lead the Division II performance lists in four of the five relays and sit third in the 400 medley.
 
Eleven different Maverick women were on the record-setting teams, including Lauren White and Ruby Bottai, who were both a part of three of them.
 
The Maverick men's contingent of Ben Sampson, Kuba Kiszczak, Dejan Urbanek and Lane Austin also set a new school record time of 1:26.73 in the 200 medley relay.  The Mavs also lead Division II in the 200 free relay (1:19.08) and rank amongst the nation's top five in all five relay disciplines.
 
School Record Haul
 
Including the aforementioned 200 medley relay mark, the Maverick men combined to set 11 new school-record times during the TYR/CMU Invitational.  Ben Sampson set or was a part of eight of those by himself, putting up his national-leading and school-record times in the 100 back (45.96), 200 back (1:39.53), 200 IM (1:43.76), 400 IM (3:45.23) and 200 Free (1:35.58).  He also became the first Maverick to ever eclipse the 20-second barrier in the 50 free, putting up a time of 19.89.
 
Meanwhile, Mado Elkady set the new 100 free record of 43.97 seconds while Dejan Urbanek set a new 50 fly record time of 22.18 seconds, his split time during the 100 fly.  Sampson also set the new 50 back record of 21.43 seconds to lead-off the 200 medley relay record-setting effort.
 
The Maverick women also combined for four new individual records on top of their five record-setting relay efforts.
 
Ruby Bottai set a new mark of 23.32 in the 500 free while Katerina Matoskova put up a new 200 free time of 1:48.67. 
 
Amelia Kinnard also broke her own record in the 1000 free with a time of 9:57.36 while Lauren White put up a time of 25.63 in the 50 back to lead off the 200 medley relay.
 
CMU Invitational History
 
After claiming their November team wins, the Maverick men have now won 11 of the 12 TYR/CMU Invitational titles, re-named for sponsorship reasons this season.  They have won six straight team titles.
 
The Maverick women have now won nine of the 12 all-time meets, winning each of the last six.
 
4-Timer
 
Maverick fifth-year senior Mahmoud Elgayar made TYR/CMU Invitational history this year, becoming the first man and first Maverick to ever win the same event four times.  He won the 100 breast and joined Western Colorado's Randi Yarnell and Mines' Mia Wood as the only previous swimmers to win the same events four times in the invitational's history.
 
Elgayar also won the 200 breast and was on two winning relay teams during this year's meet.
 
A complete list of the 4-time winners now includes:

Randi Yarnell, Western Colorado (Women's 50 Free, 2015-18)
Randi Yarnell, Western Colorado (Women's 200 Free, 2015-18)
Mia Wood, Colorado School of Mines (Women's 500 Free, 2016-19)
Mia Wood, Colorado School of Mines (Women's 1000 Free, 2016-19)
Mahmoud Elgayar, Colorado Mesa (Men's 100 Breast, 2018-2019; 2021-22)*
 
*The meet was not held in the fall of 2020 due to COVID ramifications.
 
Awards Sweep
 
The Mavericks once again swept the RMAC Athlete of the Week awards, announced on Nov. 22, after the TYR/CMU and Lumberjack Diving Invitationals.
 
Sophomore Kyra Apodaca was named as the Women's Diver of the Week for the third time this season and fourth of her career while fifth-year senior Lily Borgenheimer picked up her eighth career RMAC Women's Swimmer of the Week honor, three of which have come this season.
 
Meanwhile, redshirt junior Isiah Cheeks was named as the RMAC Men's Diver of the Week for the fourth time in as many opportunities while redshirt sophomore Ben Sampson was selected as the Men's Swimmer of the Week for the fourth time this season and ninth in his career.
 
5-Day Format
 
The NCAA Division II National Championships will be held in a different 5-day format this year with the 800 free relays taking place on Tuesday, Mar. 7 before the typical four following days of prelim/finals action.  The change could very well help the Mavs, who have been strong in that event over the last years, taking third in 2022.
 
The RMAC Championships, which the Mavericks will host, will also be conducted with this modified format to match the NCAA Championship cadence.  The RMAC Championships will now begin on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 7 (6 p.m.) and will run through Saturday, Mar. 11.
 
Tickets for the RMAC meet are now on sale through the RMAC Championship webpage.
 
Going for Five
 
The Mavericks have been picked to win their fifth successive titles this year, according to the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced back on Sept. 21.  Both Maverick teams were unanimous picks atop the poll.
 
The CMU women received all seven possible first place votes to top the poll with 49 points.  CMU's men received all four possible first place votes to top the poll with 16.
 
The eight women's coaches each ranked their opposition 1-7 without voting for their own squad while the five men's coaches did the same, ranking their opposition 1-4. 
 
Maverick Coach Mickey Wender's first place votes went to the Mines women and Oklahoma Christian men, who were both second in the poll.
 
Four-Peat
 
The Maverick teams also swept the RMAC Championship team titles for the fourth straight year in 2022.  The CMU women set a new RMAC Championship scoring record of 1,323 ½ points and won the title by a commanding 548 points over the Colorado School of Mines.  They won 19 of the 21 individual events.
 
CMU's men also won their fourth straight and sixth overall RMAC title, scoring 1,225 points to win by 350 ½ over Mines.  The Mavs claimed 11 gold medals.
 
Defending NCAA Champs
 
The Mavericks return both of their national champions from 2022 in women's 200-yard breaststroke champion Lily Borgenheimer and men's 3-meter diving winner Isaiah Cheeks. 
 
Borgenheimer, a fifth-year senior taking advantage of the NCAA's automatic COVID eligibility waiver, the first Maverick swimmer (male or female) to ever win a national title. 
 
Cheeks, a redshirt junior, joined 6-time national champion Ammar Hassan on the illustrious list of Maverick national diving champions and was named as the CSCAA NCAA Division II Men's Diver of the Year last spring.
 
Program Records
 
Led by those efforts and several other notable performances at the national championships, both Maverick teams set new program-records for their highest national finish while claiming the first top-10 finishes in program history.  Both squads also smashed the CMU marks for and national championship point scores in March in Greensboro, North Carolina.  The Maverick women finished fifth with 241 team points while the CMU men took sixth place with 221 points.
 
All-Americans a plenty
 
The Mavericks roster or returning all-Americans is quite lengthy and impressive.
 
Nineteen (10 women, 9 men) of the Mavericks who earned CSCAA All-America honors in 2022 return to this year's lineup.  That group earned a combined total of 55 (28 women, 27 men's) all-America honors, which go to the top 16 finishers in each event at the national championships, last season.  The top eight finishers earn first team honors while the ninth through 16^th place finishers are Second Team/Honorable Mention selections.
 
Ben Sampson earned seven honors as a redshirt freshman, the maximum possible.  He was the national runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke in March and was named as the RMAC Men's Swimmer of the Year.
 
Lauren White and Lily Borgenheimer each earned six honors last year.  White is the most decorated Maverick athlete (all sports) with 16 NCAA career all-America honors while Borgenheimer has won 12 at CMU and 15 in her career, which began at Minnesota State.
 
Mahmoud Elgayar (13) and Lane Austin (10) also return for the fifth years with double-figure career all-America honor totals to their credit.
 
Here's a list of CMU's returning all-Americans along with the number of honors each received in 2022 and the total number in their career.
 
Women
Logan Anderson (3 in 2022/4 career)
Kyra Apodaca (2/2)
Lily Borgenheimer (6/15 (12 at CMU)
Ruby Bottai (2/2)
Davy Brown (2/5)
Amelia Kinnard (2/2)
Katerina Matoskova (2/6)
Izzy Powers (1/1)
Lauren White (6/16)
Kelsea Wright (2/7)
 
Men
Lane Austin (4/10)
Isaiah Cheeks (2/4
Felipe D'Orsi (2/4)
Mahmoud Elgayar (3/13)
Mado Elkady (1/1)
Kuba Kiszczak (2/2)
Matheus Laperriere (2/3)
Ben Sampson (7/7)
Dejan Urbanek (4/4)
 
About the Utes
 
The Utes, under the direction of first-year head coach Jonas Persson, will also resume their season after a month-plus hiatus on Friday.  They last competed at Princeton's Big Al Invitational from Dec. 2-4, where both the men and the women finished second to the host Tigers in the 6-team meet.
 
The Utes combined for two new school records and 15 NCAA qualifying marks on the final day of that 3-day competition.  Jaek Horner broke the Utes' record in both the men's 100 and 200 breast while Charity Pittard broke the women's 200 breast record, touching in 2:12.99.
 
The Utes' last duals were in the early stages of the season.  Their women are 1-4 overall and 0-4 against Pac 12 foes having dropped decisions to California, Stanford, UCLA and USC in October before claiming a 193-105 win over UNLV at home on Nov. 4.
 
The Ute men (1-2, 0-2 Pac-12) also claimed a 196-101 win over the Rebels that day after falling to Cal and Stanford on back-to-back days (Oct. 12-13) in the San Francisco Bay area.
 
Series History
 
Both Maverick squads will be looking to defeat the Utes for the first time this weekend.  The Ute men have won all previous nine duals between the teams, winning in each of the last two Januarys at home in Salt Lake City, where they hold a 5-0 series advantage over the Mavericks.
 
The Oct. 11, 2018 dual, which Utah won 111-81 is the closest in the series history.
 
The Ute women have won all five previous dual meetings in the series, including both at home in the last two seasons.  The first three meetings were all held in Grand Junction, including the 2016-17 season encounter, which they won 228-157 in Grand Junction, the closest in the series history.
 
Up Next
 
After this week's meets, the Mavericks will have another weekend off before heading to the United States Air Force Academy for a 2-day multiple-team dual-format meet at the Falcons' Cadet Natatorium on Jan. 20-21.  The Mavs are slated to compete against the Falcons, BYU and Seattle University. 
 
The Maverick divers will also head back there for the Air Force Diving Invite (Feb. 2-4), their final tune-up before the RMAC Championships, which begin just three days later.