Wyoming Takes 2007 Border War

FORT COLLINGS, Colorado, February 2. AFTER trailing their arch-rival Colorado State through nine events, the Cowgirl swimming and diving team rallied to win each of the last five events and win the 2007 Border War, Friday night at Moby Pool in Fort Collins, Colo.

Tonight's score, which will be recalculated following tomorrow's 3-meter diving at Air Force, stands at an insurmountable 150-131 Wyoming lead. With the win, the Cowgirls improve to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain West Conference while CSU falls to 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

"This is a great day for Wyoming swimming and diving," said veteran UW head coach Tom Johnson. "This was a tremendous dual meet and I am so proud of our team for fighting back and getting this win. Our kids battled so hard and I am extremely proud of them. We had a great crowd tonight with our men, alumni, parents and fans. Anytime you are able to beat your arch-rival it is great for the school, team, fans and alumni and I am thrilled we accomplished that feat."

The Cowgirl relay teams had an outstanding night and keyed tonight's success by winning both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay. In the medley relay, freshman Molly Janak, seniors Erin Spadinger and Heidi Thorson and freshman Cassie Stelow swam a time of 1:45.98. The Cowgirls needed to win the freestyle relay to win the dual and they did just that by touching out CSU with a time of 3:30.69. Swimming that relay was Thorson, sophomore Aimee Stinson, Stelow and senior Tamara Lehnertz.

Spadinger had an outstanding day and led the Cowgirls by winning all three individual events she swam. She took top-honors in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.98), the 200 breaststroke (2:24.19) and the 200 IM (2:10.48). Sophomore Aimee Stinson also had a special day and won both the 500 freestyle (5:07.64) and the 1000 freestyle (10:30.40). Other first place finishes came from Stelow in the 50 freestyle (24.29) and Thorson in the 100 butterfly (56.96).

At the Air Force Diving Invite, the UW divers excelled behind the lead of senior Saara Haapanen. Haapanen won the 1-meter event with a score of 272.10 and sophomore Brittany Wainwright finished second at 257.45. The diving finishes claimed the Cowgirls 15 points toward their dual win over CSU.

"This was a big meet for us and everyone contributed to the win," added Johnson. "We even had a little extra motivation when coach (Joe) Glenn brought the Bronze Boot to practice yesterday and visited with the team. We had the boot with us at the pool today which was great!"

For the Cowboys, who also competed at the Air Force Invite, senior John Lynch finished second in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 332.05. He finished .25 points ahead of fellow senior Kevin Bretting who finished with a third place score of 331.80.

The swimming and diving team will continue their trip along the Front Range tomorrow as the swimmers join the divers at the Air Force Academy. The swimmers will dual with the Falcons beginning at 1 p.m. and the divers will wrap up the Air Force Diving Invite. A win on Saturday would secure sole possession of third place in the final MWC standings for the Cowgirls.

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