Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, February 21
Minneapolis, Minn. / Freeman Aquatic Center
All Day
Colorado State
vs
Mountain West Championships Day 3
Box Doubles Up Her Finals Fun
2/21/2020 8:47:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Rams take aim at top-five times in school history
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Late to the party, Julia Box made quite an entrance.
The Colorado State senior had no individual swims the first two days of the Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center, though she had helped both medley relays place. Finally given the chance to set out on her own, she delivered a pair of blazing swims, landing her in the top five of program history.
The great thing was, she was just part of a fabulous day for coach Christopher Woodard's team which put together a series of breakout swims in the session to vault one spot in the standings into sixth with 533.5 points, just .5 behind Fresno State.
"That's the way I like it. I love it when there's a day and you've got so many accolades it's hard to get around the room and list them all," Woodard said. "It was a good day."
Box put up the best two individual finishes of the meet so far for the Rams by placing fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and fifth in the 100 backstroke. After posting a 54.01 to qualify seventh in the fly, she became just the second Ram to ever dip below the barrier with a 53.95 in the finals. The other to do it – America's original Golden Girl, six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken.
"Yeah. I wish I got her on that one, but what are you gonna do?" Box quipped.
She came back nine heats later to place fifth in the backstroke, dropping more time from the prelims to finish at 54.48 to break in at No. 5 all time for the Rams. She is used to the schedule, having swam the same three events at conference as a collegian, even when she was at Buffalo. The routine is just natural, the results impressive.
"I was super aware of the emotions and feelings that go a long with the delay of being able to individually contribute," she said. "I just used what I've learned in the past and try to be as ready as I could.
"I'm thrilled. All I needed and wanted was a spot in the top eight. This morning when I was watching everybody swim, and I was really watching those times, and there was one more heat after me, so I knew where I was at. I was really thrilled to make top eight in the back, because that was more of the wild card."
Not a bad day, one which started by anchoring the 200 freestyle relay, which improved three places from seeding to take third in a time of 1:31.80, just .05 off the school record, the second day in a row the Rams have missed a relay mark.
"She's attacking her races a lot smarter, and with some tools in her arsenal that she's always had but hasn't shown in two to three years," Woodard said of Box. "Her underwaters and breakouts have been amazing, and I think that's been key to her success."
Second has become a theme, because in the 200 freestyle consolation finals, Kristina Friedrichs made a mad rush to win the B final in 1:49.42, a time which – you guessed it – ranks second all-time in program history. Maddie Ward did the same thing in placing sixth in the 100 breaststroke, though her 1:00.60 pales to her own time of 1:00.02 she set last season.
For the second day in a row, the Rams loaded up in the individual medley, placing five in Friday's 400 event, the same as they did in the 200. The one constant was senior Marie Goodwyn, who paced the Rams in both races.
She placed eighth to earn her sixth All-Mountain West individual honor, touching in a time of 4:22.15. After a trying year outside of the pool, Woodard held out hope she could find some joy in the season, and he said everybody would have understood if she just walked away. Instead, she's finishing strong, still has her best race to go and is flashing a glowing smile on deck. Why not, she's back in a familiar place – the championship finals.
"It's been a good meet," she said. "I think each session has felt so different, and my body has felt different every session, and my mind has been in a different place. I think I've just had a lot of trust in the training we've done, and I'm feeding off what my teammates are putting down."
As she waited for her heat, she watched two freshman teammates blaze their way to fantastic times in the 400 IM. She came into the meet with a clear mind, no times to target, no pressure of certain places, and being so relaxed has helped.
What she's focused on is being around her friends for one last meet.
"I wouldn't say things are coming together with the way my performance goes. I had no idea what to expect out of this meet," she said. "It's just the moments I've had with teammates on deck, and having the opportunity to swim again at night is special. Going in with hopes, but no expectations."
Abbey Owenby placed 13th (4:25.30), and sophomore Madison Hunter came in 21st (4:27.64). In between them, a pair of CSU freshmen – Katelyn Bartley and Caroline Perry -- went 1-2 in the C final, placing 17th and 18th in times of 4:23.05 and 4:24.19, respectively. Bartley dropped 13 seconds on the day from her seed time, and Perry was more than 5 seconds faster than the morning.
Woodard brought along six freshmen swimmers to the meet, and so far all of them have contributed to the team's scoring output.
"When we recruited this class, we had really high hopes for it," Woodard said. "I think they've struggled at times, but it's starting to come together. I think they're starting to believe, and so we're seeing what the future can look like, and I think it looks pretty bright."
Winning consolation heats was another boon for the team, as Olivia Chatman took the C final of the 100 backstroke (17th, 55.41) after freshman Amanda Hoffman had done the same in the 100 fly (17th, 55.67). Jennae Frederick (14th, 55.63), Elsa Litteken (24th, 57.33) both scored in the 100 fly; Sarah Mundy (15th, 1:51.25) and Sydnee Whitty (22nd, 1:52.73) in the 200 free; and Litteken also placed in the 100 back (16th, 56.24).
But nobody was having more fun than Box, who danced her way through the evening, just as she promised she would. She did it behind the blocks of her races, sitting on the deck after the relay and on the podium when the quad which included Whitty, Friedrichs and Litteken received their medals.
And like Goodwyn, she still has her best race in front of her, both in the 200 butterfly.
"I'm having the best time every right now," Box said. "I'm really tired, just because of the magnitude of today. I'm thrilled. Every time I get up, it's an opportunity to show what I've been training so hard for."
The meet closes Saturday with six swimming events (including a relay) and the platform in the diving well. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., MT, with the finals slated for 5:30 p.m.
The Colorado State senior had no individual swims the first two days of the Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center, though she had helped both medley relays place. Finally given the chance to set out on her own, she delivered a pair of blazing swims, landing her in the top five of program history.
The great thing was, she was just part of a fabulous day for coach Christopher Woodard's team which put together a series of breakout swims in the session to vault one spot in the standings into sixth with 533.5 points, just .5 behind Fresno State.
"That's the way I like it. I love it when there's a day and you've got so many accolades it's hard to get around the room and list them all," Woodard said. "It was a good day."
Box put up the best two individual finishes of the meet so far for the Rams by placing fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and fifth in the 100 backstroke. After posting a 54.01 to qualify seventh in the fly, she became just the second Ram to ever dip below the barrier with a 53.95 in the finals. The other to do it – America's original Golden Girl, six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken.
"Yeah. I wish I got her on that one, but what are you gonna do?" Box quipped.
She came back nine heats later to place fifth in the backstroke, dropping more time from the prelims to finish at 54.48 to break in at No. 5 all time for the Rams. She is used to the schedule, having swam the same three events at conference as a collegian, even when she was at Buffalo. The routine is just natural, the results impressive.
"I was super aware of the emotions and feelings that go a long with the delay of being able to individually contribute," she said. "I just used what I've learned in the past and try to be as ready as I could.
"I'm thrilled. All I needed and wanted was a spot in the top eight. This morning when I was watching everybody swim, and I was really watching those times, and there was one more heat after me, so I knew where I was at. I was really thrilled to make top eight in the back, because that was more of the wild card."
Not a bad day, one which started by anchoring the 200 freestyle relay, which improved three places from seeding to take third in a time of 1:31.80, just .05 off the school record, the second day in a row the Rams have missed a relay mark.
"She's attacking her races a lot smarter, and with some tools in her arsenal that she's always had but hasn't shown in two to three years," Woodard said of Box. "Her underwaters and breakouts have been amazing, and I think that's been key to her success."
Second has become a theme, because in the 200 freestyle consolation finals, Kristina Friedrichs made a mad rush to win the B final in 1:49.42, a time which – you guessed it – ranks second all-time in program history. Maddie Ward did the same thing in placing sixth in the 100 breaststroke, though her 1:00.60 pales to her own time of 1:00.02 she set last season.
For the second day in a row, the Rams loaded up in the individual medley, placing five in Friday's 400 event, the same as they did in the 200. The one constant was senior Marie Goodwyn, who paced the Rams in both races.
She placed eighth to earn her sixth All-Mountain West individual honor, touching in a time of 4:22.15. After a trying year outside of the pool, Woodard held out hope she could find some joy in the season, and he said everybody would have understood if she just walked away. Instead, she's finishing strong, still has her best race to go and is flashing a glowing smile on deck. Why not, she's back in a familiar place – the championship finals.
"It's been a good meet," she said. "I think each session has felt so different, and my body has felt different every session, and my mind has been in a different place. I think I've just had a lot of trust in the training we've done, and I'm feeding off what my teammates are putting down."
As she waited for her heat, she watched two freshman teammates blaze their way to fantastic times in the 400 IM. She came into the meet with a clear mind, no times to target, no pressure of certain places, and being so relaxed has helped.
What she's focused on is being around her friends for one last meet.
"I wouldn't say things are coming together with the way my performance goes. I had no idea what to expect out of this meet," she said. "It's just the moments I've had with teammates on deck, and having the opportunity to swim again at night is special. Going in with hopes, but no expectations."
Abbey Owenby placed 13th (4:25.30), and sophomore Madison Hunter came in 21st (4:27.64). In between them, a pair of CSU freshmen – Katelyn Bartley and Caroline Perry -- went 1-2 in the C final, placing 17th and 18th in times of 4:23.05 and 4:24.19, respectively. Bartley dropped 13 seconds on the day from her seed time, and Perry was more than 5 seconds faster than the morning.
Woodard brought along six freshmen swimmers to the meet, and so far all of them have contributed to the team's scoring output.
"When we recruited this class, we had really high hopes for it," Woodard said. "I think they've struggled at times, but it's starting to come together. I think they're starting to believe, and so we're seeing what the future can look like, and I think it looks pretty bright."
Winning consolation heats was another boon for the team, as Olivia Chatman took the C final of the 100 backstroke (17th, 55.41) after freshman Amanda Hoffman had done the same in the 100 fly (17th, 55.67). Jennae Frederick (14th, 55.63), Elsa Litteken (24th, 57.33) both scored in the 100 fly; Sarah Mundy (15th, 1:51.25) and Sydnee Whitty (22nd, 1:52.73) in the 200 free; and Litteken also placed in the 100 back (16th, 56.24).
But nobody was having more fun than Box, who danced her way through the evening, just as she promised she would. She did it behind the blocks of her races, sitting on the deck after the relay and on the podium when the quad which included Whitty, Friedrichs and Litteken received their medals.
And like Goodwyn, she still has her best race in front of her, both in the 200 butterfly.
"I'm having the best time every right now," Box said. "I'm really tired, just because of the magnitude of today. I'm thrilled. Every time I get up, it's an opportunity to show what I've been training so hard for."
The meet closes Saturday with six swimming events (including a relay) and the platform in the diving well. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., MT, with the finals slated for 5:30 p.m.
- CSURams.com -
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