Cowgirls win two of three duals at Rocky Mountain Invitational

* University of Wyoming media relations release

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Wyoming swimming & diving team completed competition at the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Saturday at Air Force. The women won two of the three duals.

“The men and women did a much better job racing (Saturday),” head coach Dave Denniston said. “We hadn’t raced in a real meet, as a team, since conference in February. There were a lot of lessons, knocking the rust off of Friday, but we responded really well today.”

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The Cowgirls edged Denver University 179.5-173.5 and downed Air Force by a final tally of 192-161. LSU’s women’s team got the better of Wyoming 250-103.

The Cowboys went 0-3. They fell to Air Force 188-165, dropped a 187.5-165.5 decision to Denver and lost to LSU, 262-91.

“It was nice to see our women beat DU and Air Force,” Denniston said. “Our men raced with a lot of fight, and I believe we have some spectacular meets ahead of us.”

Wyoming had numerous top-three finishes. That distinguished list starts with fifth-year senior Katelyn Blattner who won a race and placed second in three different events.

Blattner won the 500-yard freestyle, boasting a time of 5:03.56. Sophomore teammate Sage Morton placed third in the same race after recording a time of 5:12.40.

Blattner placed runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke, recording a time of 2:04.87. Blattner also took second in the 200-yard freestyle, clocking in at 1:53.66, while senior Lainee Jones wasn’t far behind, taking third with a time of 1:54.59.

Blattner and Jones teamed up with sophomores Carly Palmer and Kali Franckowiak in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The quartet took third, finishing in a time of 3:30.39.

Junior Melissa Mirafuentes enjoyed a successful day in the diving well. She won the platform competition, accumulating 292.20 points. Mirafuentes finished fourth in both the 3- and 1-meter competitions, scoring 303.65 and 279.85 points, respectively.

Fellow diver, senior McKenna Houlihan, took fifth in the 1-meter event with 235.85 points. Both Mirafuentes and Houlihan hit scores needed to advance to the zone meet in the spring.

Sophomore Isabel Rich placed runner-up in the 200-yard breaststroke, boasting a time of 2:24.72. Freshman Caitlyn Groff finished third in the 400 IM, registering a time of 4:43.55, and junior Roxy Ramirez took third in the 1,000-yard freestyle, boasting a time of 10:48.10.

Wyoming’s 200-yard freestyle relay – comprised of freshman Lauren Swartz, senior Kira Crane, Franckowiak and senior Sani Carsrud – took runner-up with a time of 1:35.80.

Senior Ryan Netzel led the way for men’s team. He won the 1,000-yard freestyle, boasting a time of 9:54.74, and also finished runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle, logging a time of 4:41.43.

Senior Grant Sloan took third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.82.

Sophomore Juan Gonzalez paced the diving team. He finished third in platform with a final tally of 271.75. He also placed fifth in 1-meter competition with a score of 275.15.

Wyoming returns home and hosts a pair of meets in a little over a week’s time. The Cowgirls host Northern Colorado Nov. 4, while both teams host Colorado State and Colorado Mesa on Nov. 5. Both meets will be held at Laramie High School.

From Bison to Triceratops - All of Wyoming's Official Things

Every state in our nation has chosen things that represent the state in one way or another to be official state things. Like a flower, or animal. Wyoming is no different.

The Equality State, or the Cowboy State, depending on which state slogan you want to go with, has a state flower. But did you know we also have a state tree and a state fish? Yes, we even have a state code.

To be an official thing, a member of the state legislature must write and submit a bill to the legislature declaring that a thing will be the official state thing. Then the legislature votes to pass the bill, or not, if it passes, the governor signs the bill into law and we have a new official state thing.

Here is what we have so far, all of Wyoming's official things. Now you can win big on Wyo Trivia Night if that's a thing that exists.

- From Bison to Triceratops - All of Wyoming's Official Things

Filed Under: Wyoming swimming