Friedrichs Caps Career With Win in Final Race

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ELKHART, Indiana. – The perfect ending.

Kristina Friedrichs, was set to leave her legacy on Colorado State's women's swimming and diving championship with four top-three times in program history and 10 Mountain West placings, added a final stamp on her career.

A championship.

In the final race of her collegiate career, Friedrichs touched out the field at the National Invitational Championships in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday at Elkhart Health & Aquatics. Friedrichs won the race in a time of 49.55, doing so after she qualified seventh in the preliminaries.

"It was definitely exciting, very surreal," Friedrichs said. "I was just trying to take in every moment of it. It was just really awesome,, because my morning swim … it was a good morning swim, but I was seeded seventh, so to come back from Lane 2, kind of outside smoke was really exciting."

Friedrichs and freshman Maya White competed at the three-day meet, covering four races each. Friedrichs placed in the top six of all four of hers, taking fourth in the 50 free and sixth in both the 50 and 100 butterflies. She swam personal bests in both butterfly events, the 100 time of 53.07 strengthening her second-place standing in the program.

For head coach Christopher Woodard, the meet served multiple purposes for the two of them, as well as the program.

"I think there's three reasons. Let a senior who is having a hot year have a shot at going out on top," Woodard said. "You have a freshman who had a great first half hopefully rebound and get some experience and get her juices flowing for postseason in the future. And hopefully you send a message to the rest of the team, that this is an expectation -- this is where we're supposed to be."

White spent the second half of the season fighting off illness, which is never ideal for a distance swimmer. She finished 23^rd in the 400 individual medley and 34^th in the 500 free, but came back with a pair of top-eight results on Saturday, needing only one race to do so.

Her opening 1,000 yards in the 1,650 freestyle counted, with her placing sixth, taking eighth in the mile itself. Her week left the same impression on Friedrichs as her opening season – impressed.

"I think Maya is one of the hardest-working people on the team I know, and she earned her spot in this meet," Friedrichs said. "Coming back the way she did after being sick in January shows how resilient she is. I feel like she was taking every opportunity this year, this week included, to have a positive attitude after all her races. It was inspiring for me to see what she's capable of as a freshman who is at the beginning of the next three years for her."

There were no medals given at the meet, and instead of colleting another meet T-shirt, the CSU duo found something more fun – a T-shirt from The Chubby Trout, a seafood restaurant across from the meet.

It will definitely be a reminder of a good memory, and Friedrichs created a perfect exclamation to another fun three days with a teammate and her coaches.

After a successful career, Woodard send Friedrichs out on her own for the last time.

"I told her it's storybook. She kind of came to me and I said, 'I'm not coaching you tonight,'" he said. "I've been telling you what to do for three and half years, so this one's on you. You tell me what you're going to do.

"She said I'm going to full send it. I'm going all out and see if I can hold on."

Which she did, then walked off the deck a final time as a champion.

CSCAA National Invitational Championships

Colorado State results
Kristina Friedrichs
6. 50 butterfly, 24.11
4. 50 freestyle, 22.81
6. 100 butterfly, 53.07
1. 100 freestyle, 49.55

Maya White
34. 500 freestyle, 5:00.48
23. 400 IM, 4:26.59
6. 1,000 freestyle, 10:05.70
8. 1,650 freestyle, 16:44.99

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