Junior becomes first Ram to earn conference swimmer of the meet honors since 2004
SAN ANTONIO – Colorado State junior Haley Rowley won another event and broke another program record on Saturday, on her way to being awarded Mountain West Swimmer of the Meet honors. CSU finished the meet in fifth place, totaling 709 points.
The league's coaches voted Rowley as the MW Swimmer of the Meet, becoming the first CSU athlete to earn the honor since Kristen Schneider won it at the 2004 MW Championship. The Rams' fifth-place finish matches their top league finish under head coach Woody Woodard.
"We're very proud of this entire crew," Woodard said, beaming about his squad's efforts this week. "They've got grit and swagger. Wow. They put in the work in training and preparation and they really impressed this week."
Rowley won the 1650 freestyle on Saturday, defeating top seed Adriana Palomino of New Mexico by nearly seven seconds. Rowley's final time of 16:15.50 was a CSU record and the second-fastest in conference history.
The Lafayette, Colo., native contributed 91 points toward the Rams' total this week, tying for the most by any swimmer at the meet. Rowley previously won the 400 IM on Friday and took third in the 500 free, setting program records in both events.
Freshman Maddie Ward officially became the fastest breaststroker in program history on Saturday. The native of Walnut Creek, Calif., took fourth in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday, finishing in 2:12.82. Ward had already broken the CSU record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday.
Tonicia Thomas, also a junior, continued her impressive championship with a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke. Sophomore Marie Goodwyn took fourth in an incredibly tight race in the 200 butterfly, where positions 1-4 were separated by less than .90 seconds.
Junior Ida Donohue took 14th in the 1650 free, posting a season-best time of 16:50.75 to tally 13 points. Freshman Madison Gordley scored for the Rams in the 1650 free as well, also posting a season-best mark.
Led by Ward, a total of four Rams scored in the 200 breast. Junior Nina Stitt took 16th, freshman Sofia Dionisio placed 17th and senior captain Gianna Salanitro finished 22nd. Dionisio's time of 2:18.72 was the second-fastest in the event by any Ram this year.
Senior Rowan Hauber placed 15th in the 100 free and freshman Jennae Frederick provided additional points from the 200 fly with a 22nd-place result.
The final diving event of the meet was the platform, and freshman Skylar Williams was CSU's top performer in qualifying with a score of 190.71, narrowly missing out on the consolation final with a 17th-place rank.
Four Rams ended up ranking among the top 25 point scorers in the meet:
Hauber and Donohue each produced 30-plus points over the week in strong performances across a variety of events.
Haley Rowley took MW Swimmer of the Meet honors
The Rams broke nine school records over the course of the MW Championship:
Boise State won the league title with a final team score of 1,250, followed by San Diego State and Nevada. Wolf Pack diver Sharae Zheng won Diver of the Meet, while San Diego State's Klara Thormalm earned freshman of the meet honors.
