FREMONT, Neb.  Western Colorado swimming and diving went wire-to-wire in winning the title at the December 5-7 Warrior Invitational, scoring 1,548.5 points over the three days to out distancing runner-up St. Ambrose (752 pts.) by more than double its point total from the meet at the Dillon Family Aquatic Center.

The Mountaineers walked away with wins in 15 of the 20 events, and broke three school records while also recording lifetime bests throughout the meet that was hosted by Midland University.

Leah Wagner set the first new record, winning the 200-yad individual medley on Thursday night with a time of 2 minutes, 9.57 seconds. Wagner also earned the next new record, opening Friday night's championship finals with a first-place time of 4:36.86 in the evening's initial individual event.

In one of the final individual events of the meet, Trinity Caudle on Saturday night broke Western's record in the 200 breaststroke with a winning time of 2:21.02, edging out the previous record holder, Wagner, who placed second in 2:22.21.

The point scoring began with Western's win in the opening event, the 200 free relay. Ella Fries, Madi Zach, Joanna Swiderska and Makenna Lambert teamed up to win the event in a time of 1:38.39.

The championship heat of the 500 freestyle was the next women's event to step up onto the blocks, and the points rolled in again for Western as Morgan Nielsen won the event with a time, 5:06.59, that was just two seconds off the team record she had last season at the NCAA Division II national championship meet.

Joining Nielsen in the championship heat and adding points to the team total were AvaMarie Hopewell (4th), Lambert (6th), Sophia Del Rosario (7th) and Sydney-Ann Morris (9th) as Mountaineer swimmers made up half of that heat.

Wagner's 200 IM win was next, and again, Western swimmers comprised half of the championship final. Fries was 4th, LynDea Turner was 5th, Demi Blaylock was 7th and Caudle was 10th.

Swiderska was the lone finalist for the Mountaineers in the 50 free, posting a lifetime best time of 24.70 seconds in finishing third.

The 800 free relay closed out the morning's prelims session and the 200 medley relay closed the action in the pool on Thursday night. Del Rosario, Hopewell, Turner and Nielsen teamed up for a second place in the 800 relay, and in the championship session at night it was Turner, Caudle, Swiderska and Lambert combining for a first-place time of 1:48.37.

Wagner's 400 IM win led off Friday night's championship session in an event dominated by Western swimmers. Turner added a 3rd place, Del Rosario a 4th, Blaylock was 6th while Morris was 8th and Halee Evans added a 10th-place finish.

Swiderska led a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 butterfly, touching first in a time of 57.15. Adessa Talbot was close behind in 2nd with Fries touching in 3rd. Also scoring from the championship heat was 8th place Amayah Warren.

Lambert picked up her first individual event win in the next event, capturing the title in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.63. Nielsen came in 2nd, Hopewell was 5th, Grace Gardner was 7th and Zach was 8th.

The 100 breaststroke final was ruled by Western swimmers as they swept the first four places. Caudle (1:05.02) won the event to out touch Fries in 2nd, Wagner in 3rd and Blaylock in 4th. Caudle in the morning had posted a lifetime best of 1:04.89 to earn the top seed.

Lambert swam to a lifetime best (59.25) in taking second place in the 100 back, while Talbot (6th), Gardner (7th), Turner (8th) and Warren (10th) made it another championship heat heavily populated by Mountaineer swimmers.

Friday night ended with another relay victory for Western as it captured the 400 medley relay (3:57.54). Lambert, Caudle, Swiderska and Nielson each added another first-place finish to their weekends with the win.

Saturday's championship session began with a 1-2 finish in the 200 backstroke. Talbot (2:08.24) edged out Turner (2:08.47), while Maggie Dean's lifetime best (2:11.75) was 4th, with Warren and Saylor Fiocati adding 8th and 10th place finishes for the Mountaineers.

Lambert (2nd, 53.09), Swiderska (6th) and Zach (8th) scored points for Western in the 100 free, followed by a near sweep of the first five spots in the 200 breaststroke.

Caudle's Western record time won the event and touched out Wagner in second. Fries tied for third place and the next swimmer to touch was Blaylock in 5th.

Swiderska led Talbot to the touch pads ahead of the pack in the 200 butterfly with a 1-2 finish. Swiderska's winning time of 2:08.73 was just 51/100ths of a second off the school record. Adding 4th and 5th place finishes for Western were, respectively, Miranda Noonan and Elisa Elsberry.

The last individual event of the meet was nearly a sweep by Mountaineer swimmers. Nielsen finished first with a time of 17:29.93, while Hopewell was 3rd, Del Rosario was 4th and Morris was 5th.

The final relay of the meet, the 400 free relay, resulted in Western's fourth relay victory of the weekend. Swiderska, Dean, Zach and Lambert combined for a winning time of 3:36.24.

The Mountaineer divers participated in both 1-meter diving events during the weekend.

In the 6-dive event Thursday night, Alexandra Wallis was second (225.65 pts.) followed by Chloe Brown in 3rd and Ashlynn Mixon in 4th.

Friday evening's session ended with the trio back on the 1m board for the 11-dive event, won by Brown (424.20) with Wallis placing 2nd and Mixon taking 4th.

NEXT UP
The Invitational was Western's final meet on the fall semester portion of its 2024-25 schedule.

After their winter training trip the Mountaineers will participate in the Colorado College Classic on Jan. 17-19 in Colorado Springs, Colo.