By: Mike Brohard
LAS VEGAS/COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado State can drop the A now.Not the Aggie 'A' painted on Horsetooth, but the one next to all of the Rams' top swimming times for the season, the one which denotes altitude adjusted. Having competed all season at above 4,500 feet, the team thrived at sea level as the Mountain West Swimming Championships hit the second day at the Buchanan Natatorium on UNLV's campus.
"There's something about sea level. I can't explain it," sophomore Hannah Sykes said, before finding the exact reason. "It's your legs. It's all in your legs. I guess a lack of oxygen first shows up in your legs. I'm telling you, you're like all the sudden, 'wow, I can kick the last 200 in my race and not die. Mostly for me, it's the legs."
Even in the final 200 of the third 500-yard freestyle of the day.
Really.
Nowhere was the rush of air more apparent than in the 500 freestyle, an event the Rams placed the maximum six in for Thursday's finals. During the preliminaries, the team posted their top six times of the season in the event, with four of the qualifiers dropping even more time in the consolation finals.
Five collegiate personal records were hit, and junior Abbey Owenby missed hers by .35 seconds in winning the C final in a time of 4:57.38. However, the most impressive performance by a Ram belonged to Sykes, who had to swim the race three times on the day, each time lowering her personal best.
She tied for 16th in the preliminaries, which led to a swim-off for the final spot in the B final. Though she dropped time (5:00.83 to 4:59.18), she lost the duel, then placed second to Owenby in the C Final with a 4:57.79, going from fourth to second in the final 200 yards.
The year before, she placed 25th in the event – the dreaded first alternate – and she told her mom at the time all she wished for was one more swim. A year later, she picked up two more, each more impressive than the last. The last time she remembers being in a swim-off was maybe at the age of 12, in the more preferable 50 free.
She had already changed out of her Powerskin and was looking forward to an afternoon nap when she found out about the swim-off. That meant she faced the task of trying to put on a wet suit, and as swimmers know, that's a tough enough task when dry and sometimes requires help.
Thursday, Sykes didn't want help putting her suit back on, because she knew her teammates felt bad for her, and the last thing she wanted was empathy as the normally sunny disposition of Sykes turned dark.
"I would say anger is what fueled me a little bit. I'm not gonna lie," Sykes said. "I try not to let my emotions get too much into me in terms of swimming, but when I found out I had to swim the 500 a second time, I had already taken off my Powerskin, I was eating a snack, just getting ready for the afternoon session, thinking I'm going to get to take a nap. Then I found out, and I was very angry. Not at anybody, just a general anger, and I think that helped get me through the day."
As the day continued, times continued to drop for the Rams, who moved into fifth place by the end of the second session with 274 points. In the other two individual events, the team's seven evening qualifiers dropped time in five races, the lone outliers coming in the 50 free, which were off by fractions.
The second day concluded with the 400 medley relay, with the Rams moving up a spot from their seed spot into a sixth-place finish with the foursome of Olivia Chatman, Kate Meunier, Jennae Frederick and Kristina Friedrichs posting a 3:47.70, a 5.27 improvement from the regular season.
The evening individual session was capped by Friedrichs in the 50 freestyle, who placed third in the event with the third-fastest time in program history at 22.79. In the prelims, she had matched her personal best of 22.94, set a year ago at conference.
"It's just exciting to put something down for my team," she said. "Coming into this, I just wanted to give it all that I had. I knew that I had done all the training, it was just a matter of racing my heart out, and I felt like I left it all in the pool. I'm just really proud of the way it came together and that I could do this for my team."
That went for her final race of the night, the anchor leg of the 400 medley relay. Her closing split was impressive (50.53), and she felt inspired behind the blocks knowing she was swimming with a pair of seniors in Chatman and Frederick who were in the blocks for their final collegiate relay.
It was Friedrichs' third championship swim in the past two seasons, all of them coming in the sprint freestyles. For coach Christopher Woodard, it's been a steady progression for the junior in a host of areas, all of which affect her performance and that of her team.
The individual work is showing in her placing, as is the developing leadership and her approach to what makes a difference.
"Each year has been a shift in her attitude and her willingness to start taking on a kind of leadership role in the water," he said. "I think that is giving her more confidence, and it shows. She's just not afraid. She's going to go out and go for it."
In all three individual races, the Rams erased what had been their top three times of the season with ease. It's not just the rest or the drop in elevation for Woodard, it's the mindset.
"What's more, I think what we're starting to see is the attitude," he said. "We're grateful for the opportunity, but we're not just happy to show up. We're going to try to do some damage while we're here. I think I'm seeing what's kind of laid beneath the surface for quite awhile.
"I felt we had a pretty good morning, and we swam pretty smart. We definitely missed opportunities, but the bottom line, as we told them before finals, every swimmer who had a scoring swim was coming back for finals. It harkened back to the theme last year, which was all in. Your contribution matters way more than your time."
Four of the team's freshmen laid claim to their first conference placing, as Megan Hager was 18th in the 50 free (23.82), Anika Johnson led the Rams' crew in the 500 free in 15th (5:01.33), with fellow classmates Olivia LeBlanc 21st (5:02.04) and Kendra Preski 22nd (5:02.30).
Sarah Mundy rounded out the 500 free crew in 16th at 5:05.42. In the 200 individual medley, Meunier placed 12th (2:05.27), Katelyn Bartley 18th (2:04.57), Frederick 20th (2:06.59) and Caroline Perry 21st (2:06.88). In the 50 free, Liza Lunina placed 23rd in 24.21.
Colorado State's first points of the day came on the 1-meter springboard, held at the Air Force Academy Natatorium. Katie Leonard placed at the conference meet for the first time, coming in 15th after scoring a collegiate-best 233.30 in qualifying, then coming back with a 223.80 in the consolation finals. Senior Rachel Holland placed 19th overall, scoring a 203.30 in qualifying.
For Leonard, it was a continuation of a strong performance at the well at the Academy, coming off a couple of high placings at the Air Force Invitational a few weeks back. On a couple of her dives, she received 7s from the judges.
"I think for sure, and just having a little more motivation and team spirit associated with it being conference makes it all that more exciting," the junior said. "I think definitely walking away from the Air Force Invitational had a lot to do with that. Even though we've had some inconsistent training because of COVID, I think we were able to pull it altogether by the end of it. I think what made me able to PR today was just being consistent in everything. I didn't have any real big misses, and I was able to stay strong and confident throughout the whole event."
Coach Chris Bergere took all of his divers to the competition, with the other three competing as exhibition, due to the limitation on scoring members on a team. In Holland and Leonard, he had divers with track records of strong scoring chances on all three boards, while the others he felt confident they may score in one, maybe two. Still he told them to go out and prove him wrong, which freshman Braeden Shaffer did, producing the best score for the Rams in qualifying, a personal-best 243.05.
"Exactly. I'm absolutely thrilled, and honestly, I think Braeden could dive better than that," Bergere said. "I think she could have finaled. She did great. I'm happy with 10th for her. She didn't miss any dives and she was comfortable."
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