Wyoming swimming and diving dropped its first duals of the season against the Denver Pioneers on Saturday. The Cowboys lost 184-114 while the Cowgirls fell short 155-145.
Both teams fought hard, but Denver was the better team in the end. The highlights for Wyoming in the distance swims were Daniella Luna Rocha won the 1000-free and came in second in the 500-free and Jacob Harlan had a season-best in the 500-freestyle. Erin Eccleston had a really strong performance in the 400-yard IM, while David Murphy was solid in the 50-freestyle. Both men’s and women’s diving swept the boards. They had some nice swims, but unfortunately came up a little bit short.”
On the Cowboys side, Wyoming won four of 16 events. Mitchell Hovis posted the top time of 56.84 in the 100-yard backstroke. In the 50-yard freestyle, David Murphy touched the wall in a season best 20.81 to take first place. The Cowboys finished two, three, four in the 100-yard freestyle. PJ Musser swam a time of 46.11 followed closely by Murphy with a time of 46.21. James Bouda rounded out in third with a 47.08 mark. Ryan Netzel placed third on the podium in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.64, which is a season best, and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:47.86 time. Tyler Klatt also placed second in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 50.92 and Jacob Harlan was third in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best 4:43.23.
On the diving board, the Cowboys swept the 1-meter board posting the top three scores. Ryan Russi took first with a score of 273.23, Brendan Byrnes recorded 211.13 mark for a second-place spot and Elijah Chan took third place with a score of 210.68. In the 3-meter, Russi won his second board of the day with a score of 303.83 while Byrnes earned another second-place finish with 243.83 mark. In the 400-yard medley relay, the team of Klatt, Murphy, Brayden Love and Bouda finished second with a time of 3:23.00 as did Musser, Grant Sloan, Liam Metzsch and Murphy in the 200-yardfreestyle with a season best time of 1:23.10.
The Cowgirls won seven of 16 events throughout the competition. The Cowgirls would place three out of the top four times in the 1000-yard freestyle. Daniela Luna Rocha touched the wall in 10:25.57 to place first, followed by Talita Te Flan in second with a 10:40.97 and Astrid Iturbe in fourth with a 10:47.79. Lainee Jones and Katelyn Blattner posted the top two time in the 200-yard freestyle with 1:52.44, a season-best, and 1:54.59, respectively. In the 200-yard backstroke, Samantha Burke placed first with a time of 2:01.88. The Cowgirls swept the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle with Jones finishing first in 5:06.40, Luna Rocha touched second in 5:06.87 and Blattner with a third-place time of 5:09.66. Erin Eccleston had a solid showing in the 400-yard IM to take the top spot with a time of 4:29.84.
The Cowgirls swept both boards. Peyton GrandPre placed first on the 1-meter board scoring 249.60 followed by CeeJay Harris with a score of 245.10. In the three-meter, Harris followed with a top spot in the 3-meter dive by scoring 267.08. In the 400-yard medley relay, the team of Burke, Phoebe Browne, Hannah Mclean-Leonard and Isobel Ryan took the second spot with a time of 3:50.90, while the group of Ryan, Sani Carsrud, Jones and Burke swam a time of 1:35.07 to also place second.
The Cowboys will host Colorado School of Mines on Friday. The meet is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Corbett pool. The Cowgirls will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 9, against Washington State in Pullman followed by the Idaho Vandals, on Sat., Nov. 10 in Moscow.
