GUNNISON, Colo.  Senior Day proved to be a celebratory afternoon for not only the seven Western Colorado University seniors, but for the Mountaineers as a whole as they took care of business Saturday at Paul Wright Natatorium, downing visiting Adams State University, 215-57.

Prior to the start of the meet, head coach Vickie Fellows and her team honored the program's seven seniors: Adrianna Bese, Sarah Mortenson, Mikaela Romano, Kali Stier, Chloe Walker, Megan Walton and Shea Yuran.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western Colorado def. Adams State, 215-57
Records: Western Colorado 4-3, Adams State 0-4
Location: Paul Wright Natatorium; Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Often unseen by the majority of meet spectators – diving events usually taking place before the first swim event -- Mortenson provided the first highlights of the day for Western, celebrating her own senior day with team records on the 1-meter diving board and qualifying for the NCAA Division II national meet in Greensboro, North Carolina, on March 9-12.
• Mortenson registered 246.15 points through six dives – a team record -- Saturday morning, and finished her 11 -dive schedule with 432.9 points, also a team record. She will be making her first trip to nationals with Saturday's results.
• The depth of Western's roster shown through in the victory as nine different swimmers won one of the Mountaineers' nine event wins.
  • Katelyn Kulow won the 50-yard butterfly in a time of 28.31 seconds, and Anna Maurello won the 200 butterfly in 2 minutes, 30.67 seconds
  • Jordan Maruska captured the 100 freestyle race with a winning time of 55.95 seconds, and Demetra Fellows hit the pad first in the 200 free (2:07.83)
  • Trinity Caudle took the 50 breaststroke (33.69), Addison O'Donnell won the 100 breast (1:08.46), and Lauren Linneman provided a breaststroke sweep by winning the 200 (2:40.40)
  • Courtney Coplan won the 50 backstroke in 28.77 seconds
  • And Tayla Liddle raced to the win in the 200 individual medley (2:18.41)
• Both relay events were swept by Western foursomes.
  • The quartet of Coplan, O'Donnell, Audrey Jacobs and Taylor Grebe posted a winning time of 1:51.88 in the 200 medley relay, ahead of second, third and fourth-place Mountaineer teams.
  • The final event of the meet, the 200 free relay, was a 1-2-3 finish by Western squads, led by Liddle, Grebe, Coplan and O'Donnell with a winning time of 1:45.33, edging out a senior-quartet of Stier, Walton, Walker and Yuran by less than a second (1:46.27).

UP NEXT
The dual against Adams finishes off the fall-semester portion of the schedule for the Mountaineers who, after winter training, will host Colorado State University Pueblo on January 8, 2022, in the first meet on the second half of the winter schedule.