Twice is nice

The Colorado State women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up

its dual meet season with a pair of victories on Friday and

Saturday.

The Rams defeated Wyoming and Nevada-Las Vegas in convincing

fashion. Wyoming didn’t stand a chance, surrendering to the Rams by

a score of 140-84, whereas UNLV put up a fight, only to suffer a

loss of 125-119.

Complete domination would be the phrase to use when referring to

the Rams’ beating of Wyoming. The Rams won every event except the

1,000-meter freestyle.

After the victory head coach John Mattos said: “It’s always

tough to swim against Wyoming in their city at that altitude,

especially this time of year. It’s satisfying to come out of there

with a win.”

Freshman Chandra Engs showed no signs of fatigue considering her

transition from a short high school season to the prolonged

collegiate season. She won the 200 freestyle with a time of

1:56.67, the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:16.10 and was also part

of the victorious 200 freestyle relay team that finished with a

time of 1:38.57.

“I’ve swam much better this season than I expected,” Engs said.

“This is more than I could have ever wanted as a college swimming

experience.”

When asked about her breakout performances as of late Engs said:

“I don’t think they were breakout meets for me. I think the team

definitely pulled through the last couple of meets.”

The Rams had a different type of victory when they faced UNLV.

With Wyoming they experienced a blowout win. With UNLV the Rams

experienced a true battle.

“UNLV is without question tough every year,” Mattos said. “They

always have some of the best athletes in the conference.”

Both CSU and UNLV were tied for second in the conference coming

into the meet. UNLV started the meet winning the first relay and

the lead bounced back and forth frequently after that.

CSU trailed UNLV by two points heading into the final event, the

400 freestyle relay. The race was tight through its entirety. The

defining moment came in the last 50 yards of the race when the

anchor of the Rams relay team, Paula Langler, came from behind to

beat UNLV and seal the win for CSU.

When asked about finishing out the dual meet season with two

victories Mattos replied, “It’s always a good feeling when you keep

winning.”