GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. Western Colorado on Saturday secured a fifth-place finish on the final day of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, aided by school records in the 1,650-yard freestyle by freshman Morgan Nielsen and by Leah Wagner in the 200 breaststroke.
The Mountaineers accumulated 409 points with roughly similar 100-point gaps between Western and fourth place Oklahoma Christian and Western and fifth place University of Texas Permian Basin.
In the championship heat of the 1,650, Nielsen – seeded eighth and swimming in an outside lane – went out with the leaders in the middle of the pool, hanging even with the pair through the first 300 yards.
Though she'd slip back from the front duo in the next 200 yards, Nielsen had built an advantage on the next closest swimmer in fourth place, her pace never faltering as she hit the final touchpad in third place with a Western Colorado record time of 17 minutes, 17.17 seconds, her third school record set during the championship meet.
Nielsen's finish in the 1,650 was also an NCAA Division II B (provisional) cut, her third at the meet after clearing the B standard in the 500 free and the B altitude-adjusted standard in the 1,000 free, both in school record times.
A timed final event, all heats of the 1,650 other than the top eight seeds swam their races at the tail end of morning's preliminaries session.
During those earlier heats Western's Sophia Del Rosario posted a career best time of 18:06.31 to eventually earn 11th place overall.
The Mountaineers next had two swimmers step up onto the blocks for the consolation final of the 100 free after posting season bests during their preliminary heats.
Makenna Lambert would score an 11th-place for Western with a time of 52.74, while Misha Little would take 13th in a time of 53.24.
The 200 backstroke also had a pair of Western swimmers in its consolation final as both LynDea Turner and Afton Page recorded season bests to advance to the evening session.
In that consolation heat it would be Page earning 13th place overall with a career best time of 2:08.86 and Turner one spot behind in a time of 2:09.31.
The final individual swimming event of the meet would be next – the 200 breaststroke.
Wagner dove in as the 12th seed in the consolation final but bettered both her final place as well as her career best time, moving up to 10th with a clocking of 2:21.55, breaking the school record that teammate Trinity Caudle had set during the morning prelims.
The championship heat of the event included Caudle who had qualified with the sixth fastest time in the prelims after registering a career best time -- and for half a day, a school record -- (2:22.28). Caudle wasn't able to better that swim but finished in eighth place, hitting the pad at the 2:23.33 mark.
All that remained on the meet schedule was the 400 free relay, with Western's 'B' foursome competing in the consolation final, followed by the 'A' quartet in the championship final.
The lineup of Nielsen, Ella Fries, Miranda Noonan and Harlie Taylor would finish the consolation heat with the 14th-place time of 3:41.03.
The Mountaineer 'A' relay would hop up on the blocks seeded fifth, but Jordan Maruska, Little, Sage Patterson and Lambert would improve a spot to claim fourth place in a time of 3:31.32.
Western closed out the championship meet with three school records from Nielsen (500, 1,000 and 1,650 free), and three NCAA B cuts by Nielsen and one by Lambert in the 200 free.
PRELIMS RECAP
The final preliminaries session of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships concluded Saturday afternoon with a preponderance of season or career best times – including a school record – from Western Colorado swimmers.
Makenna Lambert and Misha Little swam their way into the nighttime's consolation final with season bests in their respective 100-yard freestyle races. Lambert posted the morning's 11th-fastest time with a clocking of 52.58 seconds while Little's 52.95 is just behind in 12th place.
Though she posted a season best of 53.99, Sage Patterson was on the outside looking in for the final spot in the consolation heat, trailing the final qualifier by only 0.18 seconds.
The 200 backstroke prelims also saw a pair of Mountaineers earn spots in the consolation final with season best swims.
LynDea Turner is the 12th seed after a prelims time of 2:09.27, and she'll be joined in the evening session by Afton Page, the 16th seed after a preliminary swim of 2:12.96.
The 200 breaststroke finals will see one Mountaineer in the championship heat and one in the consolation final.
Leah Wagner was just off her career best in the morning and will advance into the night's consols as the 12th seed after a prelims time of 2:24.69.
In the championship final, Trinity Caudle will enter as the No. 6 seed after swimming to a career best and Western Colorado record time of 2:22.28 in the prelims.
Like in the 100 free, Western will miss adding one more swimmer to the championship session by the narrowest of margins as Ella Fries, despite a career best time of 2:30.07, finished in 17th place, one spot shy of advancing into the championship session at night.
The final event of the day's preliminaries are timed final heats of the 1,650 freestyle. All but the top eight seed times swim at the end of the prelims, with that fastest-eight heat swimming in the championship session.
The championship session, which begins at 5:15 p.m. with recognition of all seniors at the meet, will close with one final relay, the 400 free relay.
