LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sep. 20, 2019) – Behind an overall solid performance, the Cowgirl swimming and diving teams got the 2019-20 season started with a dominate 176.5-123.5 victory over the Northern Colorado Bears on Friday night in Laramie.
 
"Overall, I was looking to see what the younger swimmers would do that I hadn't seen previous to this. I saw some really good things out of our freshmen class," head coach Dave Denniston said. "There was solid leadership out of Lainee (Jones) and Katelyn (Blattner) who took hold of the meet. Hannah (Mclean-Leonard) had some really good races. With a meet this early in the season, there is still a lot to do and a lot of details but I am really pleased with where we are right now."
 
The Cowgirls would waste no time getting started as they would take the first event of the day. The team of freshman Emily Giles, junior Hannah Mclean-Leonard, sophomores Phoebe Browne and Sani Carsrud would touch the wall first in the 400-medley relay recording a time of 3:54.81 finishing almost four seconds ahead of the second place team. Junior Katelyn Blattner, sophomores Erin Eccleston, Andrea Niemann and Avery Otto-Horn would finish second in the eventh with a time of 3:58.18.
 
Two events later, the Cowgirls would once again earn a one-two finish. Jones won her first individual event of the season as she recorded a time of 1:53.08 in the 200-freestyle followed by freshman Olivia Staver who clocked a time of 1:57.54. Both would finish ahead Northern Colorado's Petra Kis who is a returning WAC Champion.
 
The third swim event to be won for the Cowgirls would be done by Carsrud. She would clock a time of 24.19 to win the 50 for the Brown and Gold. Sophomore Kira Crane, Otto-Horn and senior Kiana Junior would also all earn points in the event taking third, fourth and tying for fifth respectively.
 
Blattner would take a first place finish in the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:05.17 and Giles would cruise in behind her for second with a time of 2:08.72.
 
In the 500 freestyle, Staver would start off her Cowgirl career strong winning the distance event with a time of 5:13.73 while senior Daniela Luna Rocha would come in in second place with a final time of 5:19.10.
 
Just one event later, it would be another event victory for the Cowgirls. Mclean-Leonard would pick up where she left off last season with her first victory of the season in the 100-butterfly with a final time of 56.59. Crane, Eccleston and Otto- Horn would finish third, fourth and fifth respectively.
 
In the final event of the evening, Wyoming would end the meet with an exclamation point as the team of Carsrud, Crane, Mclean-Leonard and Jones combined for a time of 1:37.12 in the 200-freestyle relay to close out the night.
 
On the boards, the Cowgirls would start the season in dominant fashion led by redshirt junior Karla Contreras who returned to the pool after missing last season.  On the 3-meter event, Contreras would lead the way as she posted a final score 244.13. She would be followed by sophomore McKenna Houlihan who scored a 230.40. Senior Abigail Zoromski would round out the top three sweep for the Cowgirls after recording a score of 215.10.  In the 1-meter, it would be another sweep led by Contreras who won the event with a score of 253.35. This time, Zoromski would take second after tallying a score of 226.95 while Houlihan rounded out the top three with a score of 218.78
 
Both teams will be back in the pool next Friday hosting the annual Brown and Gold. The meet is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT at Corbett Pool.