LARAMIE, Wyo. – Wyoming Swimming and Diving heads to Golden, Colo., for the first dual meet of the 2018 slate against Colorado School of Mines this Saturday. Action will begin at 2 p.m. from the CSM Natatorium.

In its last outing, the Wyoming program set six new pool records at the Corbett Invite. Before that, the team set numerous season and career-best marks at the three-day Mizzou Invite. 

The Cowgirls have multiple swimmers that rank in the top 10 in the Mountain West in more than one event. Junior Isobel Ryan holds the third-fastest time in the 50 freestyle along with the fourth-fastest mark in the 100 backstroke and sixth-fastest mark in the 100 freestyle. Senior Maria Harutjunjan remains a threat in both breaststroke events, currently holding the second-fastest time in the 100 and seventh-fastest time in the 200.

Freshman Hannah Mclean-Leonard is coming off a performance at the Corbett Invite where she broke the pool record in the 100 butterfly. She now owns the fourth-fastest time in the 100 butterfly and eighth-fastest time in the 200 butterfly. Freshman Talita Te Flan ranks in the top 10 in all three distance events. She has posted the sixth-fastest time in the 500 freestyle, second-fastest in the 1000 freestyle and seventh-fastest in the 1650 freestyle.

The 200 backstroke is one of the Cowgirls' strongest events, with three swimmers ranking in the conference's top 10.

"I think the team came back from holiday break in really good shape, and we've put in about a week of solid training revisiting some of the details," UW head coach Dave Denniston said. "What we're wanting to see now is some of our younger athletes step up and show what they're capable of. Seeing them compete as a team is the focus of this weekend and seeing our younger talent rise up."

Cowboys to watch include senior Wade Nelson and junior Liam Holt. Each broke pool records at the Corbett Invite and rank in the top 10 in the WAC in multiple events. Nelson currently owns the fastest times in both the 200 and 400 individual medley. He also holds the second-fastest times in the 100 and 200 backstroke, along with the fifth-fastest time in the 100 butterfly and third-fastest mark in the 200 fly. Holt holds the second-fastest times in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and the fourth-fastest time in the 200 individual medley.

The Cowboys could score critical points with their depth in the 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke. Four UW swimmers rank in the top 10 in each event.
"The ball is rolling quick right now, and we have lots of events back-to-back after this," Denniston said. "The team set some lofty goals and we revisited those last week. The women want to be top-three in the conference for the first time in a long time, and the men are talking about winning the title."

The Orediggers will come into the weekend immediately following a two-day dual against Colorado Mesa running Thursday and Friday. In its previous meet, the men's and women's squads each placed second at the A3 Performance Invitational, also in Grand Junction, Colo.

Action will start at 2 p.m. MT at the CSM Natatorium. Live video will be available at the link above. Follow @Wyo_SwimDive on twitter for updates throughout the dual.