Rams Process Pair of Conference Dual Wins

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There is a process, and there has to be a plan.

Sprinter, distance swimmer, diver, it's all the same. While every event is an opportunity to perform, and all carry importance, there is only one competition which really matters, four days when the season will be determined successful or not.

The Mountain West Championships in February.

Beating both Air Force and New Mexico in duals over a two-day event at Edora Pool Ice Center was just part of the blueprint, one where each member of the Colorado State women's swimming and diving team performed their role as they needed over the weekend. Each win was a step, one of which the Rams are quite aware. Over the past 26 duals competed, Colorado State has only dropped one, but their conference finishes has not lived up to their expectations, specifically last season's seventh-place showing.

The Rams won 14 individual events and all four relays against their conference rivals, with Lucy Matheson and Erin Dawson winning a trio each; Matheson also swam legs on all four relays. Lexie Trietley won two (and was also part of all four relays), as did Maya White. They will all take what they gleaned from the weekend and move forward, because winning races in February is the ultimate goal.

"I think we're getting better. Especially this season, we have a much more conscientious effort to train through and train hard, no matter what opponent we're facing," senior Megan Hager said. "That way we will be ready in February and be ready to do better. I don't think anybody was satisfied with last year, especially having such a good win streak and then, for a lack of a better word, disappointed in those results. I think things are going to be on the up-and-up this year."

The entire season is filled with variables requiring an adjustment. Mentally, they have to look at the time on the board and understand how much effort has been exhausted in the weight room and the amount of training at that point. The view alters a bit with altitude, and this weekend specifically, the format.

Two days in a pool with more lanes.

"For sure. I think this meet being so early in the season and having the newcomers get used to a two-day meet where we raced hard yesterday and we're not going to feel great," Hager said. "Our arms aren't going to feel great, and our joints are going to hurt, but getting together and rallying still for the second day was so good for us at this point."

The Rams looked just as strong in the water the second day, which was important. Part of the focus supplied by the coaching staff was finishing, which not only meant individual races but meets as a whole.

They all have their own approach, and CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said the trick for him is understanding each individual, because all of them are accomplished athletes to reach this level. Plans differ, but plans are needed. The athletes who tend to think too much can be complicated and need to be shown the light.

"In a certain respect, what we as coaches need to do is trust them and trust what their process is. At the same time, we also know the high achievers, sometimes when they're not performing at their best to point out what's going right," he said. "Emily (Chorpening) was a good example. She swam a little slower in the 1,000-yard freestyle, but we as coaches saw much better strategy and much better technique, so let's build off that. Those are the lessons they can take from it."

In White's two wins, the 1,000 and 500 freestyle, she showed she took what she could from last week's dual at Wyoming and properly applied the work to her performance a week later. Her goal was stronger finishes, and she won both by coming from behind. In Saturday's 500, she sat in second at the halfway point, but four lengths later had drawn even, then spent the final six pulling away.

Progress, plain and simple.

"I feel overall, distance swimming especially is just very up and down. Swimming as a whole is an up-and-down sport," she said. "Even from last week going into this week, I feel like it was a huge difference overall. Last week we had a load in the weight room, and we trained through this whole week, so it was a lot to handle, but a lot better. It's difficult because every meet it goes different ways, but it all ends up working out in the end.

"I feel like every meet is a little more encouragement. Even if I don't do as great as I want to, just the fact I'm getting it done helps. Doing the 1,000 and the 500 in one day in a dual meet, I can't say it's fun. It's a lot, but every dual meet it's a little more encouragement. There are little steppingstones along the way."

The divers have their own version of a build, and all three Rams placed on both boards this weekend. Braeden Shaffer, despite diving for 10 years, still has to fight the feeling of failure after a bad practice. This weekend, she had six-dive sets, the 1-meter she'll continue to polish, the 3-meter which she knows will change.

This week, all of them were working on new dives, but for Shaffer, this meet wasn't the time to test it in competition. In time, she'll need it, which she's come to understand.

"I also think just doing this for so long now it's always been in my head this is not the list I'm going to do at conference. I'm going to have harder dives, and when we don't have meets in a week, I'm working on harder dives," she said. "They're not going to be great right now, but they're going to get better, and the more I do them the better I will get."

This weekend, the Rams performed better. Anika Johnson, Katie McClelland, Sydney VanOvermeiren and Tess Whineray all won races. All of them added other top finishes along the way, as did a host of their teammates.

The Rams came into the season with a keen understanding of process, and if allows them to win dual meets along the way, even better. There are more tests coming, with trips to the East Coast against bigger schools. But the goal is to get to February at their peak, and right now, they're feeling pretty confident the plan is working.

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- STALWART -

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