On Homecoming Weekend, the Women’s Swim and Dive team defeated Colorado State University by a score of 168 to 132. The Men’s Swim and Dive team held an intersquad meet where the Gold team beat the Crimson team 113.5 to 71.5.
Senior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.) swept all of the backstroke events and assisted the 200 yd free and 200 yd medley relay teams to victory. The 200 yd freestyle team consisted of Bradley, freshman Brandi Vu (Longmont, Colo.), junior Josie Valette (Boulder, Colo.) and senior Lauren Moden (Parker, Colo) and won with a time of 1:42.91. Moden, Lingen, Bradley and Valette were a part of the winning 200 yd medley relay with a time of 1:35.35.
In the 100 yd and 200 yd free, sophomore Aysia Leckie (Georgetown, Ontario) grabbed first place in both events with times of 53.12 and 1:53.74. Behind Leckie in the 200 yd free, senior Annelyse Tullier (Dallas, Texas), senior Avery Niemann (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and junior Molly Kuettel (Lake Jackson, Texas) rounded out the top-4 to help give the Pioneers 14 of the 19 points available. In the 100 yd free, junior Sarah Lingen (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Kuttel grabbed second place and fourth place respectively.
Junior Kylie Cronin (Marblehead, Mass.) took first place in the 100 yd fly for the second time in her career with a time of 56.20. Followed closely behind Cronin was Valette in the 100 yd fly with a time of 56.70. Earlier in the day, the pair of juniors also took the first and second in the 200 yd fly with Cronin swimming a 2:05.98 and Valette swimming a 2:07.62.
In the diving pool, sophomore Zora Opalka (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) earned her first ever career win with a score of 272.55 in the three-meter competition. Other top place finishes for the Pioneers consisted of Vu capturing the 100 yd breaststroke and Moden winning the 50 yd free.
It was a great showing for the women against CSU and a valuable practice for the men. The women will head to DUAL-A-POOL-OOZA on Oct. 19 and 20, where they will take on Florida International University, Rice University and Tulane University. The men will travel to the U.S. Air Force Academy on Oct 25 at 7 p.m. MST.
