GUNNISON, Colo. Western Colorado women's swimming on Saturday will try to make it 3-for-3 against Adams State University, which will visit Paul Wright Natatorium for the second time in the 2021-22 season.
Saturday's 1 p.m. meet will open with Senior Recognition of six Mountaineers, on an afternoon promoted as Pack the House Day.
Western and the Grizzlies first squared off on October 9 in a double-dual at Colorado State University Pueblo, with Western sweeping the duals against ASU (177-43) and the host Thunderwolves (120-107). On November 13 the Mountaineers hosted Adams in Gunnison and earned a 158-89 victory.
Western looks to sweep the season series Saturday behind its six seniors and a deep roster that has several swimmers posting times within the top eight and top 16 on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's top performances list.
Courtney Coplan has registered a pair of swims this season that rank within the top eight. Her 100-yad backstroke time of 57.31 seconds at the A3 Performance Invitational is currently fourth fastest in the RMAC, and the next day at the Invite she posted what currently stands as the sixth-fastest time, 2 minutes, 7.32 seconds, in the 200 back.
Lauren Linneman has the eighth-fastest time in the 1,650-yard freestyle (18:11.67) and has also swam the 11th-fastest time in the 1,000 free (10:55.96) and 10th-fastest clocking in the 400-yard individual medley (4:43.63).
Also cracking the top eight on the RMAC performance list is
Addison O'Donnell in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.60. O'Donnell is also 11th in the 100 free (53.37) and 12th in the 500 free (24.95).
Among the seniors cracking the performance list are
Shea Yuran in the 200 back (10th, 2:09.19);
Kali Stier in the 200 back (13th, 2:10.58);
Megan Walton in the 100 butterfly (10th, 1:00.15) and 200 butterfly (10th, 2:16.48); and
Adrianna Bese in the 200 breaststroke (12th, 2:31.26).
Another senior who will be challenging for top-eight finishes later in the season at the conference championship meet is diver
Sarah Mortenson, who finished in third place (376.00 points) on the 3-meter board at the A3 Invite, and fourth on the 1m board (387.00).
Two other seniors,
Mikaela Romano and
Chloe Walker, will be recognized Saturday and continue to provide the depth that has helped Western all season long. Walker's 1,000 free time of 11:48.89 is third fastest on the team, and her time of 20:15.60 in the 1,650 free is second fastest. Romano is fourth on the team in the 1,650 (20:58.80) and eighth in the 500 free (6:02.50).
Saturday's meet will be the final one in the fall semester, with Western returning from winter training to close out the regular season in January against visiting CSU Pueblo (Jan. 8, 2021) and at the Colorado College Classic (Jan. 21-23).
The RMAC championship meet is slated for February 9-12 at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado.
