NCAA Div 1: Wyoming Cowboy Men Lead Early Bird Invite

FT. COLLINS, Colo., October 24. THE University of Wyoming men’s Swimming and Diving team jumped out to a big lead while the Cowgirls are in second place after the first day of competition at the 2003 CSU Early Bird Invite in Ft. Collins.

The Cowboys swam to first place finishes in all six events on the day. The 200 freestyle relay team of Morgan Wardell, Bryce Perica, Brad Leopold and Ethan Maclean started things off by swimming a first place time of 1:28.95.

The Cowboys finished in the top seven spots of the 500 freestyle with freshman Emre Aydin, a native of Ankara, Turkey, winning the race with a time 4:48.79.

The top four spots in the 200 IM were solidified by Cowboys with Galen Gough swimming a first place time of 1:57.32. Gene Birks placed first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.92.

Wyoming swam the three fastest 400 medley relay times with Ethan Maclean, Scott Usher, Gene Birks and Grant Kritzinger placing first with a time of 3:30.39.

In the lone diving event of the day, freshman John Lynch, a San Antonio, Texas native, placed first with a score of 454.65.

On the women’s side of the meet, freshman Saara Haapanen, from Ontario, Canada, placed first on the 1 meter diving board. Her score of 248.20 was good for the lone event victory of the day for the Cowgirls.

The only top three individual finish for the Cowgirls came from Katie Haywood in the 50 freestyle. Her time of 25.21 gave her a third place finish.

The 200 freestyle relay team comprised of Ganae Stallings, Haywood, Sam Michelena and Heidi Thorson, a freshman from Rozet, Wyo., placed second with a time of 1:39.99.

The 400 medley relay team came away with a third place finish with a time of 4:04.48. Swimming the event were Janelyn Lilly, Alex Leziy-Miller, Thorson and Tamara Lehnertz, a freshman from Littleton, Colo. Freshman Emily Keefer, from Stillwater, Minn., placed second in the 1 meter dive behind Haapanen.

“We swam pretty well today but I think we are capable of much faster times,” said UW head coach Tom Johnson. “Hopefully we can get a good nights rest and see if we can swim a little faster tomorrow.”

The Early Bird Invite is scheduled to conclude with tomorrows action. The meet is scheduled to run all day.

Men’s Day 1 Results
1. Wyoming 488
2. University of Colorado 263.50
3. Colorado School of Mines 160.50
4. Air Force 32

Women's Day 1 Results
1. Colorado State 551
2. Wyoming 390.50
3. Northern COlorado 199.50
4. Colorado School of Mines 41
5. University of Colorado 31
6. Air Force 19

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