LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 10, 2020) – The Wyoming swimming and diving teams wrapped up its home schedule with a split against Denver on Friday night. The Cowgirls (6-2 overall, 2-1 MW) recorded a 156-144 victory over Pioneers while the Cowboys (2-2 overall, 1-0 WAC) dropped a tough one, 165-135.
 
"Overall, Denver is a phenomenal program and extremely talented on both the men's and women's side," head coach Dave Denniston said. "I thought the fight of both of our squads showed especially in the later part of the meet is something we can really learn and grow from. It sets us up for our remaining dual meets and the rest of the season. I really like where we are at on both sides. We have great leadership from our seniors and they've done it by example. They come in get to work, set the standard and expectation of this team and it really showed in this meet."
 
Both squads opened up the meet with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of freshman Emily Giles, sophomore Phoebe Browne, junior Hannah Mclean-Leonard and sophomore Lainee Jones touched the wall in a time of 1:45.02. The men followed that up with a mark of 1:29.72 with the team of senior Tyler Klatt, sophomore Grant Sloan, junior Brayden Love and senior PJ Musser.
 
In the women's 1000 freestyle, senior Daniela Luna Rocha notched the first win of the day for the Cowgirls with a time of 10:32.73.  Freshman Roxanna Ramirez was also in the points with a third place time of 10:50.33. For the men, two Cowboys finished in the scoring. Sophomore Ryan Netzel went 9:55.55 for a third place spot while senior Seth Borgert went 10:09.03 to place fifth.
 
Sophomore Lainee Jones recorded a first place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.70. Freshman Olivia Staver touched the wall in 1:57.41 to take fifth followed by sophomore Maggie Clerkin and senior Ellie Hohensinner with times of 1:58.92 and 2:03.88, respectively. Senior Jacob Harlan finished second in a time of 1:42.99 while Crump had a season best time of 1:44.20.
 
In the 100 backstroke, three Cowgirls would get in the scoring column. The trio would be led by sophomore Katelyn Blattner who won the event with a time of 57.21. Giles was third with a mark of 58.16 followed by sophomore Molly Green in a time of 1:00.17. The men were led by Klatt who placed third with a time of 50.20 and fellow senior Sean Calkins in sixth with a time of 52.72.
 
In the women's 100 breaststroke, Phoebe Browne touched the wall in a time of 1:05.83 to place second. Rylie Pilon and Stephanie Grandin finished fourth and fifth with times of 1:07.58 and 1:07.69. Sophomore Mitchell Hovis took first for the Cowboys in a time of 56.58, while Sloan went 58.31 for place fourth.
 
The men swept the 200 butterfly led by Love who finished first with a time of 1:49.60. Freshmen Thomas Diaz and Cameron Murphy finished second and third with times of 1:53.49 and 1:55.64, respectively.
 
In the 50 freestyle, sophomore Avery Otto-Horn was just two tenths off her season-best with a time of 24.68. Fellow sophomore Sani Carsrud placed second with a time of 24.78 and senior Kiana Junior touched the wall in fourth with a time of 24.98. On the men's side, Musser was second with a time of 21.07 followed closely by Sloan with a mark of 21.23.
 
After the diving break, Jones would record a second place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.33, while Carsrud placed fifth in 53.73. Musser also finish second for the men touching the wall in 45.86. Sophomore James Bouda finished in fifth with a time of 46.65.
 
Blattner won her second event of the night with a win in the 200 yard backstroke in a time of 2:02.99. Giles placed third with a time of 2:06.92 followed by sophomore Andrea Niemann in 2:08.47. Klatt won his first event of the night touching the wall in 1:51.49. Calkins was fourth with a mark of 1:55.93 followed by sophomore Miller Browne in a time of 1:55.98.
 
In the 200 breaststroke, sophomore Mitchell Hovis placed second with a time of 2:06.84. The top finisher for the women was junior Rylie Pilon who finished third with a time of 2:26.90.  
 
The Cowgirls had a strong showing the 500 freestyle with three out of the top four finishers. Freshman Olivia Staver placed second with a mark of 5:13.41. Luna Rocha was third in her time of 5:15.21 followed by Clerkin in a time of 5:16.66. For the men, Netzel was second with a time of 4:44.62 while senior Jacob Harlan scored in fifth place with a time of 4:47.99.
 
In the 100 butterfly, two Cowboys and Cowgirls were in the points. Mclean-Leonard was second with a time of 55.44, while Otto-Horn placed fourth with a time of 59.22. Love would win the event on the men's side with a time of 48.24. Bouda was fourth with a season-best time of 51.29.
 
Phoebe Browne won the 200 IM with a season-best time of 2:07.67, beating her old mark by over two seconds. Niemann was also in the points with a 2:09.47 to finish third. The men were solid in the event with three in the scoring column. Freshman Thomas Diaz completed the sweep for the two teams winning the event in 1:55.80. Klatt was close behind touching the wall in 1:56.28. Love completed his night in third with a time of 1:57.04.
 
It was neck and neck between the women with it coming down to the final race of the night in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Blattner, Giles, Carsrud and Jones edged out the team of Valette, Lingen, Linsay and Leckie with a time of 3:28.14. Musser, Bouda, Crump and Netzel helped the men to a second place spot in a time of 3:05. 58.
 
"Between the women, it was a battle all day and came down to a point here or there. I told Phoebe (Browne) and Andrea (Niemann) that someone needed to win the 200 IM because that was the only way we had a chance to win the meet. They both told me they could do it and Phoebe ended up winning in one of the best races I've seen her swim. The ladies took care of the relay at the end. On the men's side, Brayden (Love) has just gone to the next level, which was apparent how he dominated his races. Mitch (Hovis) was solid and Thomas (Diaz) winning the 200 IM was big for our team."
 
On the boards, the Cowgirls would get off to a strong start by sweeping the 3-meter event. For the women, redshirt junior Karla Contreras finished first with a season-best 325.05. Sophomore Abigail Zoromski also had a season-best mark of 268.05 to place second while freshman Melissa Mirafuentes was third and a score of 262.80. For the men, sophomore Brendan Byrnes would put on a strong showing posting a score of 288.68 to take first. Junior Elijah Chan finished right behind in second with a season-best score of 265.73.
 
In the 1-meter event, the Cowgirls went 1-2-3 including Contreras at the top of the podium. She finished with a season-high score of 315.30. Mirafuentes would take second tallying a final score 294.38 while Houlihan would follow with a score of 227.33. For the men, Byrnes would earn another first place finish with a season-best score of 300.15. The mark would meet the NCAA Zone "E" qualifying standard. Freshman Payton Lee placed third with a career-best 273.90 as did Chan with a mark of 269.70 to finish fourth.
 
The Cowboys and Cowgirls will be back in the pool next week on the road. Both squads will face Cal Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 16, followed by a conference match-up with the UNLV Rebels on Saturday, Jan. 18. Thursday's meet is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT in Riverside, Calif., while Saturday is set to begin at 1 p.m. in Las Vegas, Nev.