HOUSTON (Feb. 21, 2026) – Sophomore Macey Hansen earned a trip to the NCAA Championships with a repeat title in the 1,650-yard Freestyle and the 400-yard Freestyle Relay broke the school record to close the Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships, Saturday, in Houston, Texas.

"We are leaving Houston with new school records, three championships and two women qualifiers for the NCAAs," said head coach Dave Denniston. "Macey repeating as the champ in the mile to qualify was the highlight of the night."

He added, "We are leaving with great memories of the several phenomenal performances." The Cowgirls finished seventh in the team standings with 719 points.

1,650-YARD FREESTYLE
Hansen bounced back after a fourth-place finish in the 500-yard Freestyle by winning the Mountain West title in the 1,650-yard Freestyle. With a time of 16:16.41, she earned an automatic bid to the NCAA championships as the back-to-back conference champ. This will be Hansen's second trip to the NCAAs after making it as a freshman in the 1,650 and 500 Free.

Also competing in the mile was freshman Isabelle Henderson. She would take 16th overall with a time of 17:07.31, a personal best by nearly 10 seconds.

The Cowgirl duo earned 44 team points for Wyoming.

400-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY
The Cowgirls swam a school record in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, beating their time set earlier this season by nearly 10 seconds. The squad of freshman Raiden Harris, senior Veronika Ozimek, sophomore Avery True and junior Tara Joyce touched the wall at 3:17.24 for fourth. They finished just 0.23 seconds away from a bronze medal, earning 52 points.

100-YARD FREESTYLE
Joyce picked up a silver medal in the 100-yard Freestyle with her time of 48.57 in the championship final. She entered with a time of 49.32 in the prelims and moved up one place for second in the final.

In the "C" final, Ozimek touched the wall fifth with a time of 50.75. She would take 21st overall and combine with Joyce for 32 team points.

Other Cowgirls in prelim action were True with a time of 51.13 for 28th, junior Sophie Nutter coming in 32nd at 51.30, sophomore Taylor Cureton tying for 40th with a time of 51.82 and freshman Rose Jones touching the wall at 52.60 for 48th. Freshman Ella Lesnever and sophomore Ava Salverson would finish with times of 50.57 and 52.01, respectively.

200-YARD BACKSTROKE
Harris continues to impress as a rookie. In the "B" final of the 200-yard Backstroke, she finished second, 10th overall, with a personal-best time of 1:56.94. This is the new No. 6 time in program history and adds Harris to both the 100 and 200 Back record book. Harris swam her way to the final, finishing 14th in the prelims at 1:59.45.

Also, in the consolation final, junior Tessa Bendokas swam a time of 1:58.74 for sixth in the final and 14th overall. She made the final with a near-identical time of 1:58.73.

Harris and Bendokas added 30 points for the Cowgirls.

200-YARD BREASTSTROKE
Junior Taylor Craft led the way for Wyoming in the "C" final of the 200-yard Backstroke. She finished with a time of 2:15.22, a personal best and tied for No. 7 in program history, for second in the final and 18th overall.

Freshman Sienna Hawbaker took the final scoring spot in the "C" final. With a time of 2:20.22, she placed 24th.
Craft and Hawbaker earned eight points for the Cowgirls.

Sophomore Makenna Reiner would also race in the prelims and touched the wall at 2:23.50.

PLATFORM DIVING
In the platform dive, Wyoming was led by senior Alicia Gonzalez in the prelims. She would finish 20th with a point total of 198.70 for five team points.  Senior Natalie Six scored 168.70 points for 30th while freshman Sami Mandeville took 32nd with 167.15 points. Freshman Savannah Kierstead competed in exhibition and scored 143.55 points.

UP NEXT
The Cowboys take center stage when they travel to Pharr, Texas, for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimming & Diving Championships, Feb. 25-28.

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