GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  Freshman Morgan Nielsen set a Western Colorado record and surpassed the NCAA provisional ("B") time standard Wednesday night with her fourth-place finish in the final heat of the 1,000-yard freestyle at the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. 

Swimming in the championship heat Nielsen was in third place through the first 300 yards, slipping back to fourth over the next 50 yards but never relinquishing hold of that spot on the way to a time of 10 minutes, 26.69 seconds. 

Nielsen easily swam past the altitude-adjusted NCAA B cut of 10:35.91, nearly posting the non-adjusted cut of 10:24.51. 

As a timed final event, only the fastest eight seeded swimmers in the event swam in the evening's session, while the rest of the field swam at the end of the preliminaries session in the morning. 

Earning points for Western from those morning swims were Sophia Del Rosario (10:57.20) in 14th place and AvaMarie Hopewell (10:59.80) in 15th place. 

In the third event of the finals session Wednesday, the Mountaineers' Makenna Lambert swam in the consolation heat of the 50 free, posting a career-best time of 24.15 seconds to earn fifth in the heat and 13th in the overall standings. 

Lambert entered the consols seeded 15th of 16 after posting a prelims time of 24.39. Swimming in one of the outermost lanes in the evening, Lambert got off the blocks well and was with the pack at the flip. She rode out a strong streamline, avoiding the trailing wave of the full heat, and came up ahead of the competitor inside of her and was able to then have clear water all the way to the finish, eventually improving two spots in the final standings. 

Though divers Ashlynn Mixon and Andie Moon did not advance to the evening's top-eight finals of the 1-meter springboard, their totals from the prelims in the afternoon placed Mixon ninth overall and Moon in 11th place. 

The final event of Wednesday's championship session was the 200 medley relay. 

Western's 'B' relay hit the water in the consolation heat, with LynDea Turner, Trinity Caudle, Hopewell and Del Rosario combining for a final 14th-place time of 1:49.18. 

In the championship heat of the event, Afton Page led off the 'A' quartet on the backstroke leg, followed by breaststroker Leah Wagner, Zoe Wolfe on the butterfly leg, and freestyler Lambert anchoring the relay. They combined for a time of 1:48.72, which was fourth in the final standings. 

Western closes out Day 2 in sixth place with 123 points, trailing Oklahoma Christian by 1 point and University of Texas Permian Basin by just 7 points.

Host Colorado Mesa easily tops the team standings with 366 points, ahead of second place Colorado School of Mines (194.5) and Simon Fraser University (182.5).

PRELIMS RECAP
The preliminaries session on Day 2 of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships concluded with Western Colorado's Makenna Lambert advanced to the evening session in the 50-yard freestyle event.

Preliminary heats took place in El Pomar Natatorium in the 200 individual medley and the 50 free, along with seeded heats of the timed final 1,000 free.

Lambert posted a time of 24.39 seconds in her heat, registering the 15th-fastest time to qualify for the consolation heat of the event in the nighttime session that begins at 5:30 p.m.

Her time was barely off her career best of 24.29, recorded earlier this season at the Oklahoma Christian Eagle Invite.

Just missing a chance to return for the night session was Leah Wagner in the 200 IM. Her time of 2 minutes, 12.91 seconds – just 4/10ths of a second off her season best – was the 18th fastest swim in the prelims, with the final advancing time in 16th place at 2:12.59.

Sage Patterson was close behind (2:13.02) in 20th, with Misha Little (2:13.29) and Harlie Taylor (2:13.87) in 23rd and 24th place, respectively, with season best swims.

Little would jump up on the blocks in the next event, the 50 free, to record a season best of 24.70, the 21st prelims time and only 0.21 seconds off the last advancing time of 24.49.

The 1,000 free is a timed final event with the top eight seeds, which includes Western's school record holder in freshman Morgan Nielsen, competing during the championship session at night, and the remaining seeds competing at the tail end of the preliminaries session.

Leading the pack in the morning for Western was Sophia Del Rosario with a season best time of 10:57.20. AvaMarie Hopewell's time of 10:59.80 also puts her in position to earn points with a top-16 time in the event.

Both Jordan Maruska (11:05.12) and Sidney-Ann Morris (11:25.01) registered season best swims during the prelims, and will be on the edge of scoring positions after the evening's championship heat of the top eight seeds.

UP NEXT

• Divers Ashlynn Mixon and Andie Moon will compete on the 1-meter board in the 2 p.m., 11-dive preliminaries.
• Lambert, Nielsen and Western's 'A' and 'B' 200 medley relays will swim in Wednesday's finals session at the Natatorium.