Wyoming vs. Denver

DENVER, Colorado, November 3. THE University of Denver swimming and diving teams split a dual meet with Wyoming, with DU's men's team earning a 160.5 – 127.5 win over the Cowboys to remain unbeaten on the season and DU's women dropping a 178 – 122 decision to the Pokes. DU's men's team has won all four of its meets so far in 2007.

Despite entering the meet essentially down 26 points as DU competed no men's divers, the Pioneers won seven of 12 individual titles (including four in a row to open the meet) and both relay events in perhaps its best meet of the season so far.

DU's ‘A' 200-medley relay team of junior Daniel Vollmer (Ajax, Ontario), senior Marcus Christianson (Hutchinson, Minn.), freshman Garth Summers (Portland, Ore.) and freshman Stephen Pendleton (Northfield, Ill.) got things going for the Pioneers right off the bat, winning the first relay race with a time of 1:33.33.

In the first individual race, senior Nathan West (Englewood, Colo.) provided a glimpse of things to come for DU when he captured the 1000-freestyle in dominating fashion, winning with a time of 9:51.99 and beating his closest competitor by nearly six full seconds. One race later in the 200-free, junior Blake Worsley (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) kept DU's momentum going by capturing the race with a time of 1:40.64 and in the 100-back, DU got its third straight win when Vollmer won with a time of 50.99. The fourth of DU's meet-opening wins came from Nick Brunger (Castle Rock, Colo.), who won the 100-breast with a persona-best time of 57.24, just edging out Christianson's 57.53.

Worsley got the Pioneers back to their winning ways in the 14th event of the afternoon when he won the 50-free with a time of 21.18, just in front of teammate Pendleton's second-place time of 21.52. After DU took second, third and fourth in the 100-freestyle, DU's Gannon Totura (Castle Rock, Colo.) grabbed the win in the 200-back with a time of 1:52.83. Two races later, Worsley won his second title of the meet in the 500-free, winning in 4:41.21.

Ending the meet on a high note, DU's ‘A' 400-freestyle relay team of Pendleton, Scott Madaras (Yorktown, Va.), Jeff Giddens (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Worsley won DU's second relay race of the day with a time of 3:05.31.

Brunger also posted a school-record time of 2:04.79 in the 200-breaststroke but finished just behind Alex Larkin's winning time of 2:04.68.

"This was a total team effort today," head coach Brian Schrader said. "The team was motivated to make up for the deficit we had going in missing our divers and we were great from the start. Worsley and Brunger were both outstanding today and to win both relays in a dual is huge. It's something we stress as a team."

On the women's side, the Pioneers won the meet-opening 200-medley relay and got individual wins from freshman Katy Motsinger (Charleston, S.C.), senior Kelsey Totura (Castle Rock, Colo.), and Hayley Ettleson (San Diego, Calif.) to keep it close with the Cowgirls.

In the first race of the afternoon, DU's ‘A' 200-medley relay team of Motsinger, freshman Grace Kittle (Dallas, Texas), Ettletson and senior Kelsey Totura (Castle Rock, Colo.) turned in a solid performance, winning the race with a time of 1:46.55. In the first individual race of the afternoon, DU took second (Michele Lowry), third (Amanda McNally) and fourth (Lindsay Brown) in the 1000-freestyle to earn points.

In the 200-free, Totura finished second with a time of 1:52.91 and Natalie Walker (Portland, Ore.) and Caitlin Summers (Portland, Ore.) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Motsinger got the Pioneers into the win column in the seventh event of the afternoon when she won the 100-backstroke in a time of 59.49, winning by less than half a second. Mostinger also was excellent in the 50-free as she finished second by just three-one hundredths of second with a time of 23.94.

DU's next individual win of the afternoon came from Totura in her best event, the 200-back. In dominating fashion, she posted an NCAA ‘B' cut qualifying time of 2:01.96, winning by six full seconds over Lowry (2:07.97).

DU got a second place finish from Kittle in the 200-breast (2:21.74) before Ettleson came through with the Pioneers' final win of the afternoon, winning the 100-butterfly with a time of 58.54. Sophomore Olivia Dean (Aurora, Colo.) finished third in 58.71.

In the 400-free relay, DU's ‘A' team of Totura, Motsinger, Walker and Kittle finished second with a time of 3:32.24.

"We're never happy to lose a meet but we were much better than yesterday, we raced much better as a team today," Schrader said. "Kelsey had perhaps one of the best dual meets of anyone I've seen in awhile and Natalie Walker was great today. It was nice to see her race to her potential, we've been waiting for it."

Special thanks to the University of Denver for contributing this report.

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