GUNNISON, Colo. Western Colorado swimming and diving will close out the home meet portion of its 2023-24 schedule on Saturday with a Pack the House afternoon against visiting Adams State University at Paul Wright Natatorium.

The final home event of the season for the Mountaineers will also include a Beach Day theme, with fans invited to attend in their swimsuits and to join in a fun fans/team relay at the conclusion of the meet schedule.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE MEET

• The Mountaineers will be looking to complete their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate unbeaten for the second year in a row.  Western is 4-0 overall as well as in the RMAC, already with a season-opening victory over Adams State.
• Makenna Lambert, Morgan Nielsen and Leah Wagner have each posted two times ranking within the top 16 of the season's RMAC performance list. Lambert is 16th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.29, and 15th in the 200 free (1:55.28); Nielsen is 10th in the 1,000 free (10:34.79) and 8th in the 1,650 (17:46.61); and Wagner is 11th in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.42) and 10th in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.60).
• Also showing up in the RMAC performance list are AvaMarie Hopewell with a 14th in the 1,000 free (10:48.20), Trinity Caudle who is 14th in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.76), and LynDea Turner's 16th-place ranking in the 400 individual medley (4:45.26).
• Divers Ashlynn Mixon and Andie Moon will open the day's schedule at 10:30 a.m. with the 11-dive 1-meter event, then midway through the meet schedule will step back onto the 1m board for the 6-optionals event. The events will be newly-hired diving coach Abe Sala's first meet with the Mountaineers.

ADAMS STATE HEADING INTO THE MEET

• Opposite of Western's record, the Grizzlies enter Saturday with an 0-4 record in dual meets, all against RMAC competition.
• Adams also includes in their schedule a fourth place in the team standings at an early-November invitational at Nebraska-Kearney, and a seventh place at the TYR/Colorado Mesa Invite in mid-November.
• The Grizzlies have one swimmer within the top 16 of the RMAC rankings: Anjali Friedman's time of 2:25.54 in the 200 breaststroke is 14th on the list.

RELAYS WATCH

• The 400-yard relays will be the two relays competed on Saturday, with Western holding an edge in both.
• The RMAC performance list shows the Mountaineers with a season-best time of 3:36.97 in the 400 free relay, 5th fastest on the list, while Adams' relay is 10th in a time of 3:51.93.
• Western posts the 6th fastest 400 medley relay time (4:01.89) while the Grizzlies are 8th with a season best of 4:09.84.

UP NEXT

• The Mountaineer swimmers will head to Alaska for their next meets, taking on the Nanooks of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in back-to-back dual meets on Jan. 19 and 20 in the Patty Center Pool.
• Sala will take the divers to Colorado Springs for the Colorado College Classic which runs Jan. 19 and 20 at Schlessman Natatorium.