GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  The 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships got underway Tuesday evening with a single event, the 800-yard freestyle relay, and the night concluded with Western in 5th place within the team standings.

The opening heat of the meet put the 'B' relay teams up on the blocks, with Western represented by Kylee Ruhser, Lauryn Bingley, Sidney-Ann Morris and Sophia Del Rosario, who combined for a final time of 8 minutes, 10.17 seconds, placing fifth in the heat.

Two heats of the 'A' relay teams followed, with the Mountaineers' quartet of Brionna Thomas, Cate Coffield, Agnieszka Rudomina and Morgan Nielsen swimming in the first of those.

Trailing Nebraska-Kearney by a second after the first two legs, Rudomina opened up a wide lead for Nielsen who closed out the heat victory with a time of 7:50.61.

The A relay would finish sixth overall and the B relay would take 14th place, providing 40 points for the Mountaineers.

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Wednesday morning's 10 a.m. preliminary session will include heats of the 200 individual medley, the 50 freestyle, and the opening heats of the timed final 1,000 freestyle.

The fastest 24 times in the 200 IM and 50 free will return for the 5:30 p.m. session with an A championship heat of the top 8, a B consolation heat of the next 8, and a C consolation final of the next 8 swimmers.

The fastest eight seed times of the 1,000 will compete in the evening session, which will conclude with the 200 medley relay.