Mesa State Duals

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado, January 15. THE Northern Colorado swimming & diving team won three of four duals at the Bill and Peggy Foster Duals, hosted by Mesa State, on Saturday. The Bears defeated the Colorado club team 263-21, Colorado School of Mines 246-52 and Mesa State 226-62 and dropped a close decision to New Mexico 167-121.

Senior diver Kelly Schmeckpeper-Cook shattered her own school record in one-meter diving, scoring 305.55 to win the event, while sophomore Sara Moldenhaur finished second with a career-best score of 266.30 to qualify for NCAA Zones. Moldenhaur's tally also ranks fifth in Northern Colorado history. Schmeckpeper-Cook also won the three-meter diving with her score of 295.20.

"We had a really good meet today," said Head Coach Kelly McClanahan. "The highlight was Sara scoring her NCAA Zone E standard in the one-meter and of course Kelly breaking her own record. To score 300 in the one-meter is just outstanding."

Freshman Gina Riggle won the 100 yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:08.19. She also won the 50 free with a time of 25.04, while teammate JJ Smith was second in 25.28. Riggle continued her strong day, finishing third in the 200 breast in 2:28.75.

"All in all we had a great day," said McClanahan. "We barely lost to New Mexico. I told the team before the meet to be aggressive and they did just that. They took control and I'm proud of them for the way they swam and for a successful meet."

The 200 medley relay team of Sammy Leonard, Amanda Donegan, Riggle and JJ Smith began the morning timing a 1:52.21 to finish second.

Senior Tori Gutt was narrowly edged out for the title in the 200 butterfly. She swam a 2:12.06, just .08 off the champion's time of 2:11.98 by New Mexico's Nanette Wittenberg. Gutt fought back, however, to win the 200 breaststroke in 2:26.27 and touched the wall first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:12.93.

Freshman Kira Alger placed third in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.46. She then came back to win the 100 free with a time of 54.35, while Smith was third in 55.71 and placed fourth in the 100 fly with a clocking of 1:02.13.

Sophomore Tatum Boehnke finished behind a trio of Lobos for fourth in the 1000 free with a time of 10:59.90. Leonard also placed fourth in the 200 backstroke with a 2:15.12.

The 400 yard freestyle relay continued to post a strong season, winning the event in 3:40.17. The quartet consisted of Alger, Leonard, Gutt and Smith.

The Bears host New Mexico State on Jan. 21 at 5:00 pm in the Butler-Hancock pool. The meet is the final home dual for Northern Colorado and the seniors on the team will be honored prior to the first event.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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