Rams ready to reach goal
The Mountain West Conference Championship is finally within
reach for the CSU women’s swimming and diving team.
The Rams will finally get their chance to show that their
season-long goal of winning the MWC can be made a reality. The MWC
Championship started yesterday with the women’s 1-meter prelims at
10 a.m., and will continue through Saturday in Oklahoma City,
Okla.
“There is nothing like the feeling these kids have at this
time,” said head coach John Mattos. “You can’t put a price on it.
This is the ultimate high for me as a coach,” said head coach John
Mattos.
The Rams finalized their 19-member roster following a meet
against Nevada-Las Vegas meet. The roster includes the entire
senior class of Melissa Fischer, Corinne Hofstetter, Paula Langner,
Katie Peck, Jamie Robinson, Kristen Schneider and Lori Vigil.
Juniors making up the squad include Shelley Aspevig, Amber
Canterbury, Kara Crisp, Sarah DeLapp, Lyndsey McCaslin and Seda
Odzemir. The sophomores are Taylor Felton, Elizabeth Jones,
Rachelle Kula and Laura Tingle. And two freshmen, Chandra Engs and
Brette Winegarner, round out the roster.
The Rams finished the regular season as co-champions of the MWC.
They finished with an overall record of 9-2, which fell just short
of their goal to finish undefeated in the MWC.
“It’s been a successful year; there are still a few areas we
need to improve on which is exactly what we must do to win this
(MWC championship),” Mattos said.
The Rams toughest competition will probably come from Brigham
Young (last year’s champion), UNLV and Utah.
Utah was the only MWC team that beat CSU during the season. The
Rams weren’t 100 percent when they lost to Utah though; they were
without two of their top swimmers, Kristin Schneider and Lyndsey
McCaslin.
UNLV came close to defeating the Rams but in the final event,
the 400-yard freestyle relay, Paula Langler came from behind to
beat UNLV and seal the win for CSU.
The Rams convincingly beat BYU in the regular season with a
191-109 victory.
“There’s no doubt that BYU is in the hunt,” Mattos said.
“They’re the champ and the ones we all have to beat.”
The Rams placed second at last year’s MWC championships behind
BYU. Schneider and Hofstetter will try to regain their titles in
the 200 Individual Medley and the 200 butterfly. The Rams’ relay
teams also have titles to defend in the 200 medley relay and the
200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Notes
Final events competed Wednesday included the women’s 1-meter
dive, the 200 medley relay and the women’s 800 freestyle relay.
Results will be made available throughout the week, fans can also
go to www.themwc.com for real-time results.
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