Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, November 23
Houston, Texas / CRWC Natatorium
All Day
Colorado State
vs
Phill Hansel Invite Day 3
Rams Close Out Hansel Invite in Strong Fashion
11/23/2019 5:42:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Williams reaches 'A' final in all three diving events
HOUSTON – Colorado State took flight Saturday, long before the women's swimming and diving team departed for the airport.
On the final day of the Phill Hansel Invitational, the Rams delivered their first 'A' final swims of the meet, with both senior Julia Box and junior Jennae Frederick making the championship heat of the 200-yard butterfly, with teammate Madison Hunter taking part in her second scoring swim of the day in the 'B' the final at CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus.
The Rams closed the meet in seventh place with 614 points.
The event has been a strong suit all year for the team, and they were even better in the final competition before the flip of the calendar. Box placed fifth in a time of 2:00.54 (third-best in program history), Frederick was seventh in 2:03.57 and Hunter 15th with a time of 2:04.87, accounting for 60 points.
"That was a great way to finish," CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said. "I think if Hannah Sykes gets healthy and Marie Goodwyn gets healthy, it has the potential to be our best event. We can be really deep.
"There were a lot of standout performances, but Madi and Jennae probably had the breakout performances for the whole week."
Hunter tackled the two most grueling events of the day and came through with a pair of scoring swims, the other in the 1,650 freestyle. It was the first final of the day, taking place at the end of the morning session, and the Rams posted four scoring swims. Abbey Owenby placed 10th (17:08.36), Hunter 12th (17:10.19), Madison Gordley 14th (17:15.14) and Hope Jestes 23rd (17:32.39), adding 47 points to the Rams' finally tally.
Caroline Perry (12th, 2:02.44) and Elsa Litteken (19th, 2:02.71) both placed in the 200 backstroke; Sydnee Whitty placed 19th in the 100 free (51.50); and Kate Meunier went 2:20.59 in the 200 breaststroke to place 20th. The Rams capped the three-day, 12-team event with a fifth-place finish in the 400 free relay as the group of Sarah Mundy, Whitty, Andrea Basile and Box touched at 3:24.31, shaving 7.51 seconds off their previous best this season.
That was the trend for the Rams over the weekend, as they did a complete remodel of their top times for the season in each event. In all, the Rams had 15 individual finals swims on Saturdays, with times dropping from the prelims in 10 of those instances.
"We started a little bit slow, but I started to see more toughness, more resiliency. The finals performances, moving up more places and dropping times was really key and very encouraging. It's also really encouraging to have Maddie Ward after just two weeks of practices finding her groove in her races."
For the first time this season, the divers took on the platform, and without any real practice, Skylar Williams continued to shine, placing third with a career-best score of 208.10 and third best all time in program history. Rachel Holland was 13th (187.25) and Katie Leonard 16th (178.40).
Williams scored in the 'A' final in each event, making her the Rams' high-point scorer with 80.
"The divers did an excellent job over the last few days, specifically Skylar reaching the finals in all three events," Woodard said. "That was huge."
On the final day of the Phill Hansel Invitational, the Rams delivered their first 'A' final swims of the meet, with both senior Julia Box and junior Jennae Frederick making the championship heat of the 200-yard butterfly, with teammate Madison Hunter taking part in her second scoring swim of the day in the 'B' the final at CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus.
The Rams closed the meet in seventh place with 614 points.
The event has been a strong suit all year for the team, and they were even better in the final competition before the flip of the calendar. Box placed fifth in a time of 2:00.54 (third-best in program history), Frederick was seventh in 2:03.57 and Hunter 15th with a time of 2:04.87, accounting for 60 points.
"That was a great way to finish," CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said. "I think if Hannah Sykes gets healthy and Marie Goodwyn gets healthy, it has the potential to be our best event. We can be really deep.
"There were a lot of standout performances, but Madi and Jennae probably had the breakout performances for the whole week."
Hunter tackled the two most grueling events of the day and came through with a pair of scoring swims, the other in the 1,650 freestyle. It was the first final of the day, taking place at the end of the morning session, and the Rams posted four scoring swims. Abbey Owenby placed 10th (17:08.36), Hunter 12th (17:10.19), Madison Gordley 14th (17:15.14) and Hope Jestes 23rd (17:32.39), adding 47 points to the Rams' finally tally.
Caroline Perry (12th, 2:02.44) and Elsa Litteken (19th, 2:02.71) both placed in the 200 backstroke; Sydnee Whitty placed 19th in the 100 free (51.50); and Kate Meunier went 2:20.59 in the 200 breaststroke to place 20th. The Rams capped the three-day, 12-team event with a fifth-place finish in the 400 free relay as the group of Sarah Mundy, Whitty, Andrea Basile and Box touched at 3:24.31, shaving 7.51 seconds off their previous best this season.
That was the trend for the Rams over the weekend, as they did a complete remodel of their top times for the season in each event. In all, the Rams had 15 individual finals swims on Saturdays, with times dropping from the prelims in 10 of those instances.
"We started a little bit slow, but I started to see more toughness, more resiliency. The finals performances, moving up more places and dropping times was really key and very encouraging. It's also really encouraging to have Maddie Ward after just two weeks of practices finding her groove in her races."
For the first time this season, the divers took on the platform, and without any real practice, Skylar Williams continued to shine, placing third with a career-best score of 208.10 and third best all time in program history. Rachel Holland was 13th (187.25) and Katie Leonard 16th (178.40).
Williams scored in the 'A' final in each event, making her the Rams' high-point scorer with 80.
"The divers did an excellent job over the last few days, specifically Skylar reaching the finals in all three events," Woodard said. "That was huge."
Players Mentioned
FREE, BACK, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE, FLY
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FLY
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FLY, IM
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FREE, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
DIVE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
DIVE
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
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BREAST
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE, FLY
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
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/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BACK, BREAST, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE, FLY
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BREAST, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FREE, BACK
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
DIVE
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