MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Feb. 21, 2020) – For the second day in a row, another conference title and a record breaking performance were achieved by the Cowgirl swimming program at the 2020 MW Championships on Friday. Junior Katelyn Blattner captured her second title in the 200 freestyle and fellow junior Hannah Mclean-Leonard eclipsed her own personal-best and the school record in the 100 butterfly which she accomplished in last year's MW Championships. Blattner is also the first Cowgirl to win two events in the same meet since Lesley Young in the 100 and 200 breaststroke during the 2011 Championships.
 
The 200 freestyle saw some solid times out of the Cowgirls. Blattner followed up her record breaking performance with a time of 1:48.37 in the preliminaries to place third. She was followed by sophomore Lainee Jones in fourth with a time of 1:48.72. In the finals, she and Andressa Cholodovskis Lima of Nevada went down to the wire with the duo touching the wall at the same time, 1:47.35. It's a career best for Blattner and second best in school history. Jones placed third with her career-best time of 1:48.43.
 
"The women are on fire," head coach Dave Denniston said. "We had great swims out of Hannah (Mclean-Leonard) in the 100 fly for a new school record. Katelyn (Blattner) tying for first was accomplished with her last two strokes. Lainee (Jones) is also swimming great. Our breaststrokers all stepped up behind a performance by Rylie (Pilon) who dropped over two seconds. We are looking forward to tomorrow and moving back up the team rankings."  
 
Fellow sophomore Sani Carsrud competed in the B Final after a season-best time of 1:50.47. She went 1:50.81 during the evening session. Junior Kristen Covello also recorded a season-best posting a time of 1:51.49 in the morning. Followed that up with a time of 1:52.13 to place 21^st.
 
Earlier in the day, Mclean-Leonard would waste no time getting things going for Wyoming as she would set the school mark which she currently held. With a time of 52.70, she broke the record time of 52.96, which was set on Feb. 22, 2019. Mclean-Leonard placed second in the race and finish in the runner-up spot in the final with a time of 52.92.
 
Sophomore Avery Otto-Horn finished the 100 fly in a career-best time of 55.53 followed by fellow sophomore Kira Crane touching the wall in 56.22.
 
In the 400 IM, the top finisher was senior Stephanie Grandin posting a career-best time of 4:32.11. Freshman Roxanna Ramirez recorded a time of 4:34.20 followed by freshman Emma Mehl with a mark of 4:39.21.
 
In the preliminaries of the 100 breaststroke, junior Rylie Pilon was the top finisher in ninth with a career-best time of 1:02.88, which is also eighth in school history. Sophomore Andrea Niemann posed an early morning mark of 1:03.64, while sophomore Phoebe Browne finished her day in 18^th in 1:03.83. Senior Stephanie Grandin rounded it out in 21^st with a time of 1:04.11.
 
Freshman Emily Giles had a ninth place time in the 100 backstroke touching the wall in 55.08. Mclean-Leonard followed with a time of 55.55. The pair would finish ninth and 14^th in the B Final with times of 54.71 and 55.93, respectively.
 
In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Giles, sophomore Kira Crane, Otto-Horn and sophomore Sani Carsrud recorded a time of 1:34.16 in the 200 freestyle relay.
 
San Diego State continues to dominate with 1,058 total points to lead the way. Nevada sits in second with 729.50 followed by UNLV in third with 617.50. The Cowgirls are close by in fourth with 597 points headed in to the final day.
 
The final day of the conference championship will begin at 10 a.m. MT tomorrow with preliminary races. The platform prelims will be at 11:30 a.m. MT. The evening session with the finals of each event are set to start at 5:30 p.m.

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