LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 18, 2019) – Both the Cowboy and Cowgirl swimming and diving teams earned their first conference victories of the season Friday night in Laramie. The Cowgirls took home a 174-126 win and the Cowboys came out on top 159-141.
 
"I think both the men and women raced really hard today. We had a lot of close races that came down to the wire. I think our guys put everything they had into this meet. Several of the women swam some different events for the first time and they raced really well," head coach Dave Denniston said. "I think the highlight of the day was we were able to get our divers on the boards and coming away with wins on both boards for the men and women was huge."
 
The first Cowgirl swimmer to win an event on the day was freshman Roxanna Ramirez. Ramirez would record a time of 10:51.36 to take the top spot in the 1000 freestyle. She would be followed senior Astrid Iturbe who clocked a time of 11:02.58. The Cowboys would make it back to back wins for Wyoming with a first place performance from senior Seth Borgert. He clocked a time of 9:55.54 to win the event while freshman Daniel Cumnock-Francois placed third with a time of 10:01.73.
 
In the women's 200 freestyle, three Cowgirls would score points. The trio would be led by sophomore Lainee Jones who won the event with a time of 1:52.16. Freshman Olivia Staver would finish in the third-place spot clocking a time of 1:57.62 while sophomore Sani Carsrud took fourth with a mark of 1:58.44. On the men's side, sophomore Ryan Netzel recorded a second place finish in the event with a time of 1:41.87, while senior Jacob Harlan touched the wall in 1:43.64 to finish fourth.
 
The Cowgirls would keep things rolling in the 100 backstroke as freshman Emily Giles would take the victory for the brown and gold with a final time of 57.44. Sophomore Kira Crane would also score points in the event finishing in fourth place with a time of 1:00.03 which would be a season best time for her. On the men's side, senior Tyler Klatt placed second with a time of 50.75, while Miller Browne recorded a time of 51.76 for fourth.
 
In the 100 breaststroke events, it would be another back-to-back set of victories for Wyoming. Sophomore Phoebe Browne would touch the wall in first with a season best time of 1:06.12. Junior Mitchell Hovis would take first in a very close race finishing with a time of 55.72.
 
It would be more of the same in the 200 butterfly with junior Hannah Mclean-Leonard continuing her dominance in the butterfly events clocking a time of 2:09.43 to finish first. In the men's heat, it would be junior Brayden Love who would get the victory after recording a time of 1:51.58.
 
The 50 freestyle would be yet another back-to-back win for Wyoming. This time on the women's side, it would be Carsrud winning her first event of the meet with a time of 24.37. On the men's side, sophomore Grant Sloan would pick up the victory for the Cowboys with a final time of 20.69.
 
Two Cowboys would put points on the board on the 100 freestyle led by a first place finish from senior PJ Musser who recorded a time of 45.81, out touching the second place finisher by .02. Sophomore James Bouda would finish fourth in the event touching the wall at 46.45.

In the women's 200 backstroke, junior Katelyn Blattner would earn another victory for the Cowgirls as she touched the wall in first with a final time of 2:05.36. Freshman Courtney Hughes would finish sixth in the event with a time of 2:11.20 and sophomore Molly Green would place seventh with a time of 2:12.95.
 
In the men's 200 breaststroke, Hovis would win his second event of the night taking first in the 200 with a time of 2:02.49. Freshmen Thomas Diaz would finish fifth in the event with a time of 2:11.21.
 
The 500 freestyle would prove to be one of the strongest events for both the Cowgirls and Cowboys with both squad taking the top three spots in the event. For the women, it was Blattner in first with a time of 5:08.63 followed by senior Daniela Luna Rocha with a time of 5:08.99. Sophomore Maggie Clerkin came in third with a time of 5:20.22. On the men's side, it was Netzel in first with a time of 4:43.55, followed by Borgert at 4:45.68 and freshman Cameron Murphy rounding out the top three with a time of 4:46.61.
 
The Cowgirls would get another 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM this time led by a first place effort from Giles who finished in 2:08.08. She was followed by sophomore Andrea Niemann in second with a time of 2:12.97. Junior Tanja Milanovic in third with a time of 2:13.53.
 
The Cowgirls would end the night with a bang as they would take the top two spots in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Carsrud, Mclean-Leonard, Crane and Jones took first with a time of 3:31.78. The team of Blattner, Green, Junior and Staver took second with a time of 3:37.14.
 
On the men's side, the meet would could come down to the final race which was the 400 freestyle relay. Unfortunately, Air Force had both of its A&B relays disqualified. That gave the team of Musser, Bouda, Sloan and Netzel the win with a time of 3:02.44 and sealed the victory for the Cowboys.
 
On the boards, the Cowgirls and Cowboys would get off to a strong start by sweeping the 3-meter event. On the Cowgirls side, freshman Melissa Mirafuentes, competing in her first dual meet as a Cowgirl, would dominate the field winning the event with a score of 329.48. Redshirt junior Karla Contreras placed second with a total score of 290.40. Sophomore McKenna Houlihan and freshman Makena Sanger would take seventh and tenth with scores of 216.68 and 160.35, respectively. For the men, sophomore Brendan Byrnes would put on a strong showing posting a score of 308.10 to take first, scoring almost 40 points ahead of the second place finisher. Freshman Payton Lee and junior Elijah Chan finished fifth and sixth with scores of 237.83 and 235.95, respectively.
 
In the 1-meter event, a Cowgirl would once again finish on top but this time it would be Contreras placing first with a score of 279.98. Mirafuentes would take second tallying a final score 268.43 while Houlihan would finish sixth with a score of 212.70. For the men, it would be Lee's time to shine as he would finish atop the podium with a final score of 264.83. Chan would finish two spots behind him in third with a score of 247.05 while Byrnes took fifth with a score of 244.05
 
Next up for the two squads is Friday, Oct. 25 against the Colorado School of Mines. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. MT in Golden.
 
Follow @wyo_swimdive for updates and live stats.