Dawson, White Getting Their Payback

HOUSTON – To Christopher Woodard, it always sounded like a backhanded compliment when he mentioned the facts.

He'd watch Erin Dawson work out, and each and every day, she was pushing her roommate, Maya White. When it came to meets, White was winning races, but Dawson was struggling, so he'd rave about her workouts, then follow with his wonder of when it would start to translate to competition. A lot of it, he knew, had to do with illness or injuries, and by the end of the season, White was familiar with the feeling.

A reaction to the covid vaccination set her back for a spell during the crucial leadup to the Mountain West Championships, and while she placed pretty well, it wasn't the meet she envisioned. A year later, so much has changed – for the better – for both of them.

Naturally, for Woodard's Colorado State women's swimming and diving squad.

Thursday, Dawson broke out a pair of strong swims in the 200-yard individual medley, etching her name into the program's top 10 in the event. First into fifth with a 2:02.69 in the prelims, then into fourth as she dropped to a 2:02.34 to place 14^th in the finals. White, in the first half of her freshman campaign, had posted the second-best time in program history in the 500 freestyle, a 4:52.01. She hadn't approached it until becoming just the second Ram to clip the 4:50 barrier with her 4:49.66 to place third in the finals.

They were part of a strong day for the Rams, who dropped time consistently, picked up some finals swims they weren't seeded for and moved up one spot in the standings of the meet at the CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus, now seventh with 275 points.

The best part, neither of them has competed in their best event. That's a fact they both find encouraging, but the day in and of itself was very comforting.

"Today was the 200 IM, so it wasn't my best event. I'm now more excited for the 400 IM tomorrow, and I think I'll be next to Maya, too, so that will be lots of fun," Dawson said. "That's my best event. This helps doing an IM today and not my best one. It gives me confidence for my best event."

Confidence was in short supply for her last year, thanks to all the ailments. She started to gain some back in the summer as she was healthy enough to train hard and started to see some results. When the season opened in Fresno, Calif., she didn't carry too many expectations.

She did leave with some.

"At Chick-fil-A, that was a good start. I just wasn't expecting it, but it just happened, and I was, 'Oh, OK, I guess I can go faster,'" Dawson said. "It's been really exciting. Not just being here, but at the dual meets. I had such a hard year last year I think being here is such a good opportunity and to be with my teammates. There were times when I was having such a hard time, it was hard to find the positive, but it definitely made it a lot better being with Maya and the rest of my teammates. Especially after everything got better in the offseason and I was training hard."

White was having her own internal battles with herself after the late-season setback. While she's swam well this year, she had yet to see any real gains for which to hang her hat, so she didn't enter this meet with any grand expectations.

Just a bit of hope.

"I was hopeful. A big part of me was, not doubting myself, but I had been stagnant per se for so long, going the same times," White said. "It was, 'OK, let's see what happens.' If I do well, awesome. If not, I'll still deal with it. I wasn't expecting to do this well, I guess, but I was hopeful something would change from the period of time I've been in."

A good swim in the prelims to have her seeded fourth was a start. A strong field in the finals was another boost, carrying her a spot forward as she hung with San Diego State's Wilma Johansson and Wyoming's Maisyn Klimczak, with the Aztec winning the race by .05 with a 4:46.13.

All swimmers have barriers they want to hit in their races, and it can get frustrating at times. In the 500 free, dipping below 4:50 was the next step for White. Now with her 4:46.66 she'll have to find another.

"Honestly, I was expecting to drop a little bit of time, but I feel I have more encouragement in the mornings than at night. I'm more scared, naturally, because it's finals," she said. "It was in the back of my mind to break the barrier, but I wasn't fully expecting it. When I touched, it was pretty good."

What made it better was seeing her roommate finally have some success. White didn't have the conference finals she wanted a year ago, but she was there. Now, so is Dawson.

When Dawson wasn't around, there was something missing for White. Now they're both making the most of the chance, which feels even better.

"Last year, not having her at these meets, it was really sad almost. She just wasn't there; it was really weird," White said. "This year, she's been doing great the whole season and to see her do well has been awesome. I know she's been working really hard for it, and I wanted her to do well. To see us both keep going is a really good feeling. It makes me happy she's doing so well.

"Every practice, honestly, she inspires me. She does so well all the time. That motivates me to keep going."

It's the kind of payoff which keep coaches going as well.

Woodard knew all too well the frustrations the duo was experiencing. Deep down, he had a feeling all their work was going to pay off, but there are no guarantees.

"That's kinda the whole point, to see the maturation process and the realization and actualization of all their hard work," he said. "Especially for Erin, but even just as much for Maya. Both of them had serious medical issues heading into conference last year which prevented Erin from competing and Maya being 100 percent. One year later, to see where they are now, that's very gratifying."

It wasn't just them. Olivia LeBlanc broke through and scored her first conference points by placing 19^th in the 500 free (4:56.59), with Anika Johnson a few spots ahead (4:54.87) in 14^th. The divers scored for a second consecutive day, and Katie McClelland's improvement in the 200 IM (2:05.47) took another step as she placed 22^nd. In the 50 free, freshman Lexie Trietley earned her first all-conference designation by placing sixth (22.82), with Megan Hager 15^th(23.44).

Trietley's prelim time in the 50 free of 22.76 ranks third in program history.

Hager and Johnson, juniors, have been constants for the team. Getting an injection of new blood is a boost.

"We're good, and we've got some top-level kids, but we're not the type of team where we can go with six top dogs and make a move," Woodard said. "We need everybody. That's the expectation, whether you're the first person or the 18^th scoring, you have to get into position."

In the well, the diving duo of Jessica Albanna and Braeden Shaffer came back even stronger on the 3-meter springboard. After both scored at the conference meet for the first time the day before, they spent Thursday advancing even further, qualifying for the consolation finals, giving them a fresh set of six dives. While their scores were better in the preliminaries, they nearly doubled their point total as Shaffer placed 16^th (243.55) and Albanna placed 16^th (228.05), an additional 26 points to the team total. They need just one point on the final day on the platform to match last year's point total for the team in diving.

Friday, the preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. (MT), with the finals set for 5 p.m.

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Jessica Albanna

Erin Dawson

Katie Flynn

Megan Hager

Anika Johnson

Olivia LeBlanc

Braeden Shaffer

Lexie Trietley

Maya White