Wyoming dips back into conference action at UNLV

* University of Wyoming Athletics media relations release

LARAMIE -- The University of Wyoming swimming & diving team receives one final glance this weekend at a conference foe before championship season, which is less than a month away.

The Cowboys and Cowgirls travel to UNLV for a meet against the Rebels and Hawaii on Friday and Saturday.

Get our free mobile app

“We are going to look at swimming some events that we haven’t swum for some of our athletes this year and getting a good idea of what the conference ranking will look like after this,” UW head coach Dave Denniston said. “.”

Wyoming is two weeks removed from its most recent competition. It hosted Colorado School of Mines on Jan. 7, while the divers were at the Bruin Diving Invite.

Those competitions served as a way to shake off the rust from a near two-month, holiday-season layoff. It also provided many swimmers with the opportunity to compete during a time when many winter sporting events were getting postponed or canceled due to the omicron variant.

And while the competition against the Orediggers and in Los Angeles were opportunities that were cherished, this weekend’s meet has a little more impact.

“This will definitely help us get a better picture of what the conference meet will look like,” Denniston said. “This will also give us a better picture of who’s going to represent the Cowboys and Cowgirls and a chance get to finish the dual season up the right way.”

This marks the second consecutive season that Wyoming is competing in a meet in Las Vegas comprised of UNLV and Hawaii. Last season provided a gauge as to how the conference championships would shake out as the Rebels won both the Mountain West Conference championships and the Western Athletic Conference championships.

Denniston anticipates the thrill of racing the reigning conference champions in an exciting location such as southern Nevada will produce quick times.

“Everybody is excited to race there,” Denniston said. “Every time we go to UNLV, it’s an opportunity to spend some time outside, so there’s a high energy and some really fast swims at this meet. It should be a lot of fun.”

Friday’s racing begins at 5 p.m. with diving capping the day’s competition. The meet resumes Saturday at 11 a.m. with diving, once again, closing the day.

- 15 Questions You Should Never Ask Someone From Wyoming