HOUSTON (Feb. 20, 2026) – The Cowgirls won their second 800-yard Freestyle Relay title in three years while taking silver in the team diving event to wrap the penultimate day of the Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships, Friday, in Houston, Texas.

"Tonight was all about the team effort," said head coach Dave Denniston. "Our divers earning silver in the team diving event was a great momentum boost going into the 800 Freestyle Relay."

He added, "We executed that [800 Free] relay brilliantly with a PR lead off from Raiden. Avery and Macey kept the field close enough for Tara to take over the lead to eventually win in a new team record."

"Energy is at an all-time high going into the last day."

800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY
Wyoming won only its second 800-yard Freestyle Relay title in Mountain West history when the squad of freshman Raiden Harris, sophomore Avery True, sophomore Macey Hansen and junior Tara Joyce touched the wall first with a school record time of 7:10.00. With their efforts, they added 64 points for the Cowgirls in the team standings. The Cowgirls last won the 800 Free Relay in 2024 with Joyce swimming the anchor as a freshman.

As the lead-off swimmer in the relay, Harris set a personal best time of 1:47.79 in the 200-yard Freestyle.

TEAM DIVING
The Cowgirl trio of senior Alicia Gonzalez, senior Natalie Six and freshman Sami Mandeville would finish as runners-up in the team diving competition. They combined for a score of 290.75 and took home the silver medal, adding 56 team points. This is Gonzalez's third medal in as many days at the championships.

"Wow! The team rallied to put a great team list together," said head diving coach Mark Murdock. "I'm proud of each one of them and how they contributed to bringing home the silver."

200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY
The Cowgirls opened finals competition on Friday with the 200-yard Medley Relay. The relay team of junior Tara Joyce, junior Taylor Craft, sophomore Taylor Cureton and freshman Raiden Harris finished with a time of 1:39.19 for sixth place. Their finish would add 48 team points for Wyoming.

200-YARD BUTTERFLY
Junior Sophie Nutter took the top spot for Wyoming in the 200-yard Butterfly, clocking 2:02.14 for sixth in the consolation final, and 14th overall. She rose one place after entering the finals 15th with a prelims time of 2:02.00.

Two other Cowgirls swam in the "C" final in sophomore Abigail Bruss and senior Ellie Fritscher. Bruss would take third in the final, 19th overall, with a time of 2:02.77 while Fritscher would touch the wall at 2:02.98 for sixth and 22nd overall. Bruss also swam a personal best in the prelims at 2:02.67.

Wyoming added nine points from the three finals performances in the 200 Fly.

Junior Katie Ford took 27th in the prelims, just out of finals placement, with a time of 2:05.93. She was followed by senior Berkeley Christensen in 31st at 2:07.16 while freshman Isla Hardie and senior Anna Roesler both swam times of 2:05.97.

100-YARD BACKSTROKE
All three swimmers representing Wyoming in the 100-yard Backstroke made the "C" final. Leading the group, junior Tessa Bendokas took second, 18th overall, with a time of 54.59, a personal best and No. 6 in Wyoming history. Bendokas was on spot out of the consolation final, finishing 17th in the prelims at 55.02.

Harris would finish third in the "C" final and 19th overall with a time of 55.10. She made the final after swimming a time of 55.30 in the prelims.

Senior Veronika Ozimek rounded out the "C" final for the Cowgirls with a time of 56.86 for 24th overall. She entered the finals with a 56.79, a personal best.

Wyoming picked up 14 team points in the 100 Back.

100-YARD BREASTSTROKE
In the championships final, Craft would take eighth with her time of 1:01.09. She made the final after posting a time of 1:00.99, a personal best and No. 6 time in program history.

Freshman Sienna Hawbaker touched the wall sixth in the "C" final for 22nd overall with a personal-best time of 1:03.58. She entered the finals after taking 22nd in the prelims at 1:04.08.

Craft and Hawbaker added 25 team points for Wyoming.

Also in the prelims, sophomore Ava Salverson would swim a time of 1:04.58, a personal best by 0.02 seconds.

The Cowgirls end day three with 549 points for seventh in the team standings.

UP NEXT
The final day of the MW championships will begin with the prelims of the 200-yard Backstroke, 100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Breaststroke and Platform Dive at 9:30 a.m. MT, with finals action starting at 5 p.m. MT with the 1,650-yard Freestyle. The championship will conclude with the 400-yard Freestyle Relay at 6:45 p.m. MT.

Stay up to date with Wyoming swim and dive by following @wyo_swimdive on X and @wyo_swim_dive on Instagram.