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.