COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  Mountaineer swimming & diving earned the top spot on the leaderboard after Friday night's two-event session, which included a 1-2 finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle by Morgan Nielsen and Sophia Del Rosario.

The Mountaineers scored three divers in the 3-meter event and took four of the top five spots in the 1,650.

JUST THE FACTS
Event: Colorado College Classic
Location: Schlessman Natatorium, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Team scores (top 3): 1 – Western Colorado (11 points), 2 – Colorado College (53), 3 – College of Idaho (39)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Classic's opening event in the late afternoon was 3-meter diving (11 dives). Alexandra Wallis earned a third-place finish for Western, scoring 420.75 points. Teammates Chloe Brown (414.08 pts.) and Ashlynn Mixon (300.46) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
• The Mountaineers then added their first win of the Classic, with Nielsen cruising to the pads in first with a time of 18 minutes, 24.64 seconds.
• Del Rosario was closest with a second-place time of 18:55.39, while Sidney-Ann Morris (19:11.20) and AvaMarie Hopewell (19:32.39) added points to the team total with fourth- and fifth-place finishes.

UP NEXT

• The Classic reconvenes Saturday morning with 9 a.m. prelims, followed by 1:30 p.m. 1-m diving and a 5 p.m. championship finals session in which the fastest 16 swimmers from their respective events in the prelims will advance to the evening session.
• Western enters Day 2 of the Classic with the top seeds in five swimming events, starting with Leah Wagner in the 200 individual medley.