Colorado State University Athletics
CSU to host Denver at Moby Pool on Friday
10/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Meet Notes #2 - 10-14-15 
LIVE VIDEO STREAM
CSU TO HOST DENVER ON FRIDAY
The Colorado State Rams will host Denver in their second home meet of the 2015-16 on Friday starting at 5 p.m. MT.
The meet will be streamed live at www.csurams.com/videos.
The two programs met last season in CSU’s opening weekend, with the Pioneers hosting. CSU lost to Denver before defeating Nebraska-Omaha later in the day. CSU won the first two events of the meet last year, with Jessica Shepard (50 Backstroke) and Cristina Bassani (50 Breaststroke) grabbing victories. In the end, the Pioneers won 162-121.
MILONE DOMINANT ON THE BOARDS
Senior Ariana Milone is currently unbeaten in both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter. Both of her top scores came in CSU’s opening dual meet against New Mexico. She still won both events at the Intermountain Shootout, despite not posting scores quite as high. “She’s just good,” Diving coach Kevin Witt said after the Intermountain Shootout. “She’s good and she’s experienced and she’s tough. She was a little bit off at times, but she was still good for us and good enough to win.”
RAMS FALL IN NAILBITER TO NEW MEXICO
It came down to the final event, but the Colorado State swimming and diving squad fell to the New Mexico Lobos, 156-144, in the team’s season-opening meet at Moby Pool on Oct. 8. Junior Allie Jacobs won the 400 IM (4:35.02), while Mackenzie Halligan took third and Gianna Salanitro placed fourth. Still trailing, but within a narrow enough margin to be able to win, the Rams entered the final event with hope for a victory. Ultimately, the Lobos top 200 Freestyle Relay squad would clinch the meet victory for the Lobos, with CSU’s teams placing second and third in the event. CSU’s divers had a strong opening meet, with senior Ariana Milone winning in both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter events. Junior Emily Williams had a runner-up result in the 1-Meter while placing third in the 3-Meter. The Rams got off to a good start to the meet. After Milone’s win in the 3-Meter dive, CSU’s 200 Medley Relay A team, consisting of Jess Shepard, Cristina Bassani, Carmen Mand and Katie Kicklighter, won the opening swimming event (1:45.48).
Head Coach Chris Woodard said after the meet, “I think there’s plenty of potential. I don’t think we’ve seen anywhere near our best. In fact, a lot of our top performers, they struggled a little bit. They swam well, but maybe not as well as they hoped.”
CSU PICKS UP NUMEROUS WINS AT INTERMOUNTAIN SHOOTOUT
The Rams picked up 10 wins at the Intermountain Shootout, taking place Oct. 9-10. The meet was hosted by Colorado Mesa University and also featured BYU, who posted the top score of the meet.
Although the Rams feel they did not have their best weekend up in Grand Junction, there is a lot of optimism for the season ahead. “We’re obviously not happy with the result, but it more great exposure to another quality team and I really, firmly believe that when we start getting healthy and back together as a full unit that we are going to be pretty tough,” Woodard said afterwards.
OTHER NOTABLES FROM LAST WEEK
- Jenna Beaury beat her seed time by nearly two seconds to win the 100 Breaststroke on the first day of the Intermountain Shootout (1:05.98).
- Ariana Milone posted a score of 290.55 in the 1-Meter dive versus New Mexico. Although she already holds the school record in the event (304.05), her score would rank third all-time at CSU.
- CSU’s 200 Medley Relay A team, consisting of Jess Shepard, Cristina Bassani, Carmen Mand and Katie Kicklighter, won the opening swimming event versus New Mexico (1:45.48).
SEASON OUTLOOK - Expectations
CSU is coming off its second-straight winning season, going 5-4 in dual meets last season. The Rams are aiming to continue to rise in the conference, and will lean on their young talent to do so.
“I think the expectations for us are definitely to improve,” Head Coach Chris Woddard said. “We landed a great recruiting class and so far we’ve been really impressed by our freshmen in our work outs. We lost a very good senior class, but our hope is that most of our talent is young and with another season of experience, we will be a much tougher team. The expectations are just to compete. We don’t know where we sit, but we will find out real soon.”
ON THE NEWCOMERS
The Rams are anticipating a lot of production out of their talented freshmen this season.
“I think all of the newcomers have impressed as far as their discipline in the water,” Woodard said. “The biggest standouts on the swimming side are Tonicia Thomas and Mackenzie Halligan. Mackenzie comes with a pretty big resume and we knew Tonicia was talented, but she has taken over leading sets in work outs and has been a vocal leader. We have been very impressed with those two.”
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNEES
CSU boasted three all-conference performers last season - Katie Kicklighter (50-yard freestyle), Ariana Milone (1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard) and Tess Simpson (100-yard backstroke). Both Kickligher and Milone return this season, and will figure to lead the Rams yet again.
Milone’s importance on the boards will be huge all season.
“She’s one of the best in the conference and one of the best in the nation,” Woodard said of Milone. “She will continue to lead and after last year, breaking both school records, she’s coming in on a high note and she is ready to rip for her senior year.”
Kicklighter, just a sophomore this season, will look to secure a lot of points in the pool this season.
“She sets the tone,” Woodard said of Kicklighter. “A lot of other athletes just look to her to lead the way and score some serious points and she rarely disappoints.”
ON THE BOARDS
Milone will certianly be productive for the Rams in her senior year, but there are still some personnel questions with a trio of freshmen entering the fold in 2015-16.
“It’s tough to lose a leader like Mary Kate Hardy, but Emily Williams is a great veteran who always gets results for us,” Woodard said. “It’s a new bag with three freshmen, who are all very talented and raw in their own way. I have no doubt that Kevin Witt will have them ready by the end of the season and they’re probably going to be scoring points for us. We will find out against New Mexico, who has traditionally been one of the better diving teams in the conference.”
SEASON GOALS
Although the Rams had a winning dual meet record for the second-consecutive year, the Rams wound up taking 10th at the Mountain West Championship. CSU will aim to not sacrifice any success in the regular season while still climbing the league leaderboard at the end of the season.
“That’s been a real sticking point for us,” Woodard said. “We had some postseason success early when I was here, but then we realized we were sacrificing the entire season to get there. This year, I think the team has a little more depth and a little more toughness, so that we can swim tired and still get some wins. If we do that, we won’t get away too much from our training and focus for the offseason. We just have to have fun and relax and once we get to conference, and if we swim with a little attitude and with a chip on our shoulder and not be so intense.”
UP NEXT
CSU will travel to face rival Wyoming on Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. MT, in what will be the second meet against a Mountain West foe this season.