GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado swimming and diving gets one final tune-up prior to the conference championship, hosting Adams State University in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet Saturday at Paul Wright Natatorium.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND
The Mountaineers just returned from the three-day Colorado College Classic, at which they battled with the host Tigers for the lead through the final individual event. The lead had flip-flopped between the two teams after nearly every event, and quite literally on the final day until CC put six of eight swimmers – Western's Anna Maurello and Miranda Noonan were the other two – into the championship heat of the 100-yard butterfly, racking up enough points to overtake the Mountaineers and build enough cushion to withstand Western's quartets in the Classic's final relay event.

Western's LynDea Turner captured the 400 individual medley title for Western and accumulated 65 points across the three days of the Classic, the third most points of all swimmers in attendance.

Only one point behind Turner in the final tally was Jordan Maruska with 64 points, while Leah Wagner's 62 points were fifth most at the meet. Makenna Lambert was next on the list with 59 points and also cracking the top 10 was Tayla Liddle with 55 points.

Western divers made a strong showing at the Classic, as Alexandra Wallis placed fourth in the Classic's initial event Friday, 3-meter diving, scoring 347.95 points from her 11-dive list. On Saturday afternoon Meredith Clabaugh totaled 331.20 points from her 11 dives to finish second on the 1-meter board. Wallis was sixth on the 1m, Clabaugh was sixth on the 3m, while Taylor Grebe finished seventh on the 3m and 10th on the 1m.

The Mountaineers head into the final dual on the schedule with a 6-1 record, the only loss coming in mid-October at Division I University of New Mexico. Western's win total includes a 164-22 victory over Adams State that opened the 2022-23 schedule; a 219-18 win over the Grizzlies at the CSU Pueblo Quad Meet; a fourth-place finish to Adams' sixth at the TYR/CMU Invitational, and a second place to the Grizzlies' sixth at the Colorado College Classic.

Western will be seeking an 18th consecutive dual-meet victory over Adams State on Saturday. The Grizzlies' last win over the Mountaineers (141-121) cam on Jan. 10, 2015.

ADAMS STATE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND
The Grizzlies, despite their record so far against Western, have been improving all season.

In a dual meet just before the Colorado College Classic, Adams downed CSU Pueblo, 115-77, for a bit of revenge over a 124-73 loss to the ThunderWolves earlier in the season at Pueblo's Quad Meet.

Within the RMAC's top performance list, Peyton Schwartz has recorded the 10th-fastest time in the 200 backstroke (2:09.95) and the 15th-fastest 100 back (59.96).

LOOKING AHEAD
Both Western and Adams State will next head to the RMAC Championship Meet running from Feb. 8-11 at Colorado Mesa University's El Pomar Natatorium in Grand Junction, Colo.