LARAMIE, Wyo. (January 15, 2020) – The Cowboy and Cowgirl swimming squads will be on the road later this week for a duo of meets. Both squads will face Cal Baptist on Thursday, followed by a conference match-up with the UNLV Rebels on Saturday. 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.
 
Last time out, Wyoming faced Denver on senior night. The Cowgirls are now 6-2 overall in dual action after a 156-144 victory over the reigning summit league champions. Junior Katelyn Blattner had a strong performance against the Pioneers. She accounted for 29 points in the win on Friday night. She placed first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.21. Blattner followed that up with a first place spot in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:02.99. She was almost three seconds faster than the second place finisher. To close out the meet, she swam the lead leg of the 400 freestyle relay that finished first in a time of 3:28.14. For her performance, she would bring home MW swimmer of the week honors. Redshirt junior Karla Contreras would also turn in a big performance as she recorded season best scores in both the 1 and 3-meter diving events to sweep each event.
 
The Cowboys fell to Denver 165-135, however junior Brayden Love also had a strong performance. Love earned two first place finishes in both the 100 butterfly (48.24) and 200 butterfly (1:49.60) which both were 10 top times in the WAC this season. Love was the third leg on the 200 medley relay team that finished second against Denver with a time of 1:29.72. He accounted for 22 points of the 135 the Cowboys earned. His performance helped him take home WAC honors.
 
"Cal Baptist is a newer opponent for us," head coach Dave Denniston said. "This is the second year we are competing against them as a league opponent. On the men's side there's a bit of pride and contention after finishing behind CBU last year at the WAC championships." 
 
Last season, the Cowboys and Cowgirls made the trip to Riverside and both came away with victories over California Baptist. The Cowboys would beat CBU 163.50-136.50 while the Cowgirls would take down Lancers 195-100. After finishing second in the WAC championship last season, the men's squad holds a record of 3-2 this season with their wins coming over Pomana-Pitzer, Incarnate Word and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. On the women's side, the Lancers are coming off a season in which they finished fourth in the WAC. This season, they have an overall record of 2-2-1 with their wins coming over Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, with a tie against Incarnate Ward.
 
"Like the last several years past, we will end our dual season with UNLV," Denniston added. "It's always been a close meet on both sides. It really comes down to the details we talk about all season long but I know it's a meet this team really looks forward to."
 
UNLV will be a very familiar foe for Wyoming. Last time the two squads met was January 26, 2019, the Cowboys picked up a 156-140 victory over the Rebels while the Cowgirls lost 158-141. This season, the UNLV men hold a record of 2-4 with wins over CSU-Bakersfield and CBU. The UNLV women's squad is 3-4 in dual action. They also defeated Bakersfield, CBU and Nevada.