GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  Passing the halfway point of the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday night, Western Colorado maintained its fourth-place spot in the teams standings with two day remaining in the five-day meet.

The Mountaineers advanced swimmers from prelims into the finals session on Day 3 in each of the three individual events, pushing into the championship final of two of those three events.

Joanna Swiderska qualified eighth from the prelims into the championship heat of the 100-yard butterfly at the start of the night. The freshman improved one spot into seventh place with a time of 57.25 seconds.

Prior to her swim, Amayah Warren, Madi Zach and Adessa Talbot – all freshmen – added points from the 'C' final of the event. Talbot (59.26) finished 17th overall, Zach (1:00.61) was 20th, and Warren (1:00.93) was 23rd.

Eight swimmers had pushed into the night from the preliminary heats of the 400 individual medley.

In the 'C' consolation final the Mountaineers earned points from Sidney-Ann Morris (23rd, 5:03.49), Demi Blaylock (21st, 4:56.69), and with a career-best time, Trinity Caudle (4:47.83) who won the heat for 17th place.

Sophia Del Rosario and Talbot scored points from the 'B' consolation heat. Del Rosario (4:41.61) earned an 11th-place finish while Talbot (4:40.52), in her second event of the night, finished 10th overall.

LynDea Turner and Leah Wagner represented in the championship final. Turner would take seventh with a time of 4:42.43 while Wagner would take fifth place for Western, clocking 4:37.09 after finishing sixth in the 200 IM the night before.

The 200 free added points to Western's total from the 'C' and 'B' consolation finals. Morgan Nielsen won the 'C' final with a time of 1:53.92, surpassing the NCAA qualifying time (altitude adjusted), and Makenna Lambert (1:54.40) placed 14th.

The 400 medley relay closed out the night and Western added points from both its B and A relay teams.

The Mountaineer B relay of Talbot, Wagner, Ella Fries and Nielsen would take 14th (3:59.68), and the A foursome of Turner, Caudle, Swiderska and Lambert would earn a fifth place with a time of 3:52.96.

All of those points added up for Western, which finished Day 3 in fourth place in the team standings with 442 points, inching further in front of fifth place Oklahoma Christian University (361.5 pts.).

UP NEXT
Friday, the penultimate day of the championship, will be a busy one for all the teams at the championship meet. Prelims will include the heats of the 500 free, the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 200 butterfly.

The afternoon will see Western's divers in the 3-meter prelims, and the evening's session will add in and finish with the 200 free relay.

PRELIMS RECAP
The preliminaries session on Day 3 of the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship concluded Thursday morning at El Pomar Natatorium with three swimmers from Western Colorado qualifying for the evening's championship heats of their respective events while nine others will be back for consolation heats.

The opening event during the championship session will be the 100-yard butterfly in which Western placed four swimming into various heats.

Qualifying for the 'C' consolation final from the preliminaries were Addison Talbot, Amayah Warren and Madi Zach. Talbot posted the 19th-fastest time this morning, finishing her prelims heat in 1 minute, 0.25 seconds. Warren's time of 1:01.30 was 22nd fastest, and Zach's was 23rd at 1:01.36.

The Mountaineers earned their first championship final swimmer in the event, as Joanna Swiderska qualified eighth, with a time of 57.77 seconds.

The 400 individual medley should earn many Western points in the team standings as the two consolation heats as well as the championship final will have Mountaineers jumping up on the blocks.

Three will be in the 'C' final, led by Trinity Caudle's 20th seed from her prelims time of 4:56.81. She will be joined in that heat by Demi Blaylock (21st, 4:59.60) and Sidney-Ann Morris (23rd, 5:03.93).

Talbot earned her second nighttime swim by qualifying 12th in the IM with a time of 4:44.68. Sophia Del Rosario joins her in the 'B' final with the 10th-place prelims time of 4:43.59.

The event includes Western's other two championship heat finalists in LynDea Turner and Leah Wagner. Turner (4:42.63) will be the seventh seed in the final, and Wagner will be seeded fifth after her prelims time of 4:39.44.

The final individual event of the championship session will be the 200 freestyle.

Morgan Nielsen will be the top seed in the 'C' final after registering a 17th-place prelims time of 1:55.19.

Teammate Makenna Lambert will be the top seed in the 'B' final. Lambert's original prelims time of 1:52.41 – surpassing the NCAA championship B qualifying time standard – tied for eighth fastest in the morning, requiring a swim-off with one other swimmer for the final spot in the eight-swimmer championship heat. Lambert finished second in the swim-off, slipping her into the 'B" consolation final where she will be its top seed.

The final event of Thursday's championship will be the 400 medley relay, with Western entering both 'A' and 'B' relay teams.