Mirafuentes paces Cowgirls with her third straight MW title in platform
* University of Wyoming Athletics media relations release
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Each of the last two nights featured a three-peat for the University of Wyoming swimming & diving team at the Mountain West Conference championships.
Junior Melissa Mirafuentes made it three nights in a row for the Cowgirls on Saturday at Paup Pavilion.
Mirafuentes dominated in platform. She tallied a final score of 328.20 to win her third consecutive MWC title.
“I’ve never been less nervous during a competition, which never happens,” UW diving head coach Ted Everett said. “But after her first dive, I knew it was over for the rest of the competition. I couldn’t be more proud of this performance.”
That performance helped Wyoming finish fourth as a team with 888.5 points. San Diego State won the title, compiling 1,541.5 points, while Nevada and UNLV rounded out the top three with 1,277.5 and 1,249 points, respectively.
“This was a really perfect end to the meet for us,” head coach Dave Denniston said. “The Cowgirls did a great job all week.”
Senior Katelyn Blattner highlighted the effort in the pool. She was honored as the MWC Swimmer of the Meet after capping her individual performances with a third-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke, logging a time of 1:55.92.
“Katelyn earning Swimmer of the Meet was the highlight for our program,” Denniston said.
Freshman Kayla Cunningham wasn’t far behind, touching sixth in a time of 2:00.20. Junior Emily Giles won the B final of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.72, and freshman Sydney Metzler took eighth in the C final, clocking in at 2:06.36.
Freshman Maisyn Klimczak led off Saturday night with a third-place finish of her own. She swam a 16:37.14 in the 1,650-yard freestyle to take third, while fellow freshman Sage Morton finished seventh with a time of 16:51.61.
Seniors Lainee Jones and Sani Carsrud placed second and third, respectively, in the C final of the 100-yard freestyle. Jones swam a time of 51.06, and Carsrud registered a time of 51.29.
Cowgirls were littered all over the C final of the 200-yard breaststroke. Freshman Caitlyn Groff led the way with a third-place showing after swimming a time of 2:19.77, while sophomore Isabel Rich and senior Andrea Niemann took fourth and sixth, respectively, with times of 2:19.84 and 2:23.18.
Sophomore Kali Franckowiak placed sixth in the C final of the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.90. Cunningham wasn’t far behind in seventh after clocking in at 2:05.24.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team capped the night with a fourth-place finish. The collection of sophomore Carly Palmer, Blattner, Carsrud and Jones boasted a time of 3:21.74.
The NCAA Zone E Diving Championships represents the next competition for Wyoming. It begins March 9 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
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