Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Nick Monaghan
Rams Travel to Denver for Season-Opening Dual
10/9/2019 2:00:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Setting a tone key for Woodard
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The yardage has started to accumulate in practice, and now the Rams are set to finally put the training to the test.
Colorado State women's swimming and diving coach Christopher Woodard and his team will head to Denver on Friday for a season-opening dual at El Pomar Natatorium. Diving begins at 2 p.m., swimming at 4.
For Woodard, now in his ninth season at the helm, the key item on his checklist is the readiness of his team.
"I think more than anything else, we've worked a lot on technique and race strategy, so I want to see good racing skill more than anything else," Woodard said. "We don't want to start out of the gate where we're missing turns or not dictating the tempo right up front in our races. Staying disciplined and executing our race strategy is the biggest thing early on."
The Rams return 18 letterwinners from last year's roster, including 13 of 16 swimmers who scored at the Mountain West Championships. They added nine freshmen and one transfer to the mix, and his staff is new to the program, with diving coach Chris Bergere and assistant swim coach Lisa Ginder (a DU grad) on hand for their first seasons.
The brunt of the 28-member team is on the younger side, with only three seniors on the team. That makeup also factors into what Woodard wants to see transpire in the dual, the first of four this month.
"Knowing that we've got 19 underclassmen, freshman and sophomores, I really want to impress upon them how important it is to execute their races the way that we have prepped them," he said.
Woodard has every member of the team entered, including a roster of six divers which will compete on the 1- and 3-meter boards. The Rams are coming off a 2018-19 season where they were 4-4 in dual meets and finished seventh at the conference meet.
Top Returners from 2018-19 (by event)
50-yard freestyle – Kristina Friedrichs, 23.38
100 freestyle – Friedrichs, 51.03
200 freestyle – Hope Jestes, 1:52.83
500 freestyle – Abbey Owenby, 4:57.03
1,000 freestyle – Owenby, 10:24.79
1,650 freestyle – Madison Gordley, 17:00.32
100 backstroke – Elsa Litteken, 55.49
200 backstroke – Litteken, 2:01.40
100 breaststroke – Maddie Ward, 1:00.02*
200 breaststroke – Ward, 2:09.85*
100 butterfly – Julia Box, 55.96
200 butterfly – Jennae Frederick, 2:02.66
200 individual medley – Ward, 2:00.04*
400 individual medley – Marie Goodwyn, 4:20.14
1-meter diving – Rachel Holland, 279.83
3-meter diving – Skylar Williams, 303.85
* – Denotes school record
Colorado State women's swimming and diving coach Christopher Woodard and his team will head to Denver on Friday for a season-opening dual at El Pomar Natatorium. Diving begins at 2 p.m., swimming at 4.
For Woodard, now in his ninth season at the helm, the key item on his checklist is the readiness of his team.
"I think more than anything else, we've worked a lot on technique and race strategy, so I want to see good racing skill more than anything else," Woodard said. "We don't want to start out of the gate where we're missing turns or not dictating the tempo right up front in our races. Staying disciplined and executing our race strategy is the biggest thing early on."
The Rams return 18 letterwinners from last year's roster, including 13 of 16 swimmers who scored at the Mountain West Championships. They added nine freshmen and one transfer to the mix, and his staff is new to the program, with diving coach Chris Bergere and assistant swim coach Lisa Ginder (a DU grad) on hand for their first seasons.
The brunt of the 28-member team is on the younger side, with only three seniors on the team. That makeup also factors into what Woodard wants to see transpire in the dual, the first of four this month.
"Knowing that we've got 19 underclassmen, freshman and sophomores, I really want to impress upon them how important it is to execute their races the way that we have prepped them," he said.
Woodard has every member of the team entered, including a roster of six divers which will compete on the 1- and 3-meter boards. The Rams are coming off a 2018-19 season where they were 4-4 in dual meets and finished seventh at the conference meet.
Top Returners from 2018-19 (by event)
50-yard freestyle – Kristina Friedrichs, 23.38
100 freestyle – Friedrichs, 51.03
200 freestyle – Hope Jestes, 1:52.83
500 freestyle – Abbey Owenby, 4:57.03
1,000 freestyle – Owenby, 10:24.79
1,650 freestyle – Madison Gordley, 17:00.32
100 backstroke – Elsa Litteken, 55.49
200 backstroke – Litteken, 2:01.40
100 breaststroke – Maddie Ward, 1:00.02*
200 breaststroke – Ward, 2:09.85*
100 butterfly – Julia Box, 55.96
200 butterfly – Jennae Frederick, 2:02.66
200 individual medley – Ward, 2:00.04*
400 individual medley – Marie Goodwyn, 4:20.14
1-meter diving – Rachel Holland, 279.83
3-meter diving – Skylar Williams, 303.85
* – Denotes school record
Players Mentioned
FREE, FLY
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FLY
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FLY, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
DIVE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BREAST, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
DIVE
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