Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, November 21
Iowa City, IA
All Day
Colorado State
at
Iowa Invitational
Barbosa Cracks Top 5 as Invite Opens
11/21/2024 7:31:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Senior moves up ladder in 200 IM during prelims
IOWA CITY, Iowa  – The plan was to attack. For a coach who has traditionally watched his teams get stronger through invitational-style meets, Thursday's results were an encouraging start.
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Colorado State's women's swimming and diving team came out dropping time in races on the first day of the Hawkeye Invitational, highlighted by Maisy Barbosa's preliminary swim in the 200-yard individual medley which vaulted her into the program's top five.
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"We had a little bit of rust, but we shook most of it off, I think. It is an encouraging start," CSU coach Christopher Woodard said. "I think what's really encouraging is not only seeing season bests, which we all expect those, but we had a handful of personal bests, some people just outdoing themselves. And we were seeing it from some people who aren't the primary contributors."
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The senior had a tough back-to-back lineup to start the day, swimming the final heat in both the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM at the CRCW Aquatics Center at the University of Iowa. She saved her best for the second event, posting a 2:01.14, the fourth-best time in program history, just 1.1 second off the school record .
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She would place seventh overall in the finals, coming in at 2:02.28 after dropping her finals swim in the 500 free (she qualified for the B final). Woodard's team had 10 finals swims on the day -- the top 32 from the preliminaries return for finals heats with only the top 16 scoring – with five swims showing improvement from the morning session.
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"I think what's been most impressive is not just her story of returning from surgery and returning to her form from her freshman year, it's been her willingness to be aggressive. She just seems to have tapped into this fearlessness where she's just going to see what she can do," Woodard said. "Then she typically drops a crazy last 50 in the IM. I was really impressed with that morning swim.
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"It goes against our better judgement because we like to go for the points (in the 500), because we saw a couple of things she could clean up and maybe take a shot at the school record, take a shot at the U.S. Open cut because she was just half a second off, but it just wasn't to happen tonight."
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Colorado State's relays both placed with season-best times to place 10th, with the 200 free team (Azalea Shepherd, Dawson, Ashlyn Hembree, Trietley) taking 10th in a season-best time of 1:32.88. The first day closed as the Rams' 400 medley team (Tess Whineray, Katie Flynn, Erin Dawson, Trietley), posted a 3:42.21.
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The Rams sat in seventh as a team with 191 points.
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Dawson had the same double as Barbosa, placing sixth in the 500 free at 4:50.77, then taking 16th in the 200 IM. Mia Axelman, who slipped into the D final when Barbosa scratched the race, dropped time in her second swim to finish 27th. Maya White gave the Rams a pair of scorers in the longest race of the day, taking 10th in 4:51.50.
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Colorado State's other individual point scorer on the day was Trietley with her 11th-place finish in the 50 freestyle in 23.24 after dipping into the 22s for the first time this season in the morning as she touched in 22.97.
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In the 50, Azalea Shepherd had a second swim (23.56, 27th); while in the 200 IM, Addison Wicklund (22nd, 2:05.58), Katie Flynn (26th, 2:04.96) and Lindsey Blake (30th, 2:06.06) all dropped time during the evening session. The swims from Blake, Shepherd and Axelman were part of the upbeat vibe created by people hitting not just season bests, but personal bests. Axelman's 500 shows her potential as a possible scorer at conference.
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"It gives us a better idea of what our conference lineup is going to be. The question with Mia was what's going to be her third event," Woodard said. "Typically, she's in events which are really hard to score in at conference with the 100 and 200 (freestyles). Now it seems like we've got a bead on a 500 with a personal best."
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Friday's second day of the meet will follow the same time schedule, the preliminaries beginning at 9 a.m. (MT), the finals slated for 4 p.m. There is a live stream for each session.
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Colorado State's women's swimming and diving team came out dropping time in races on the first day of the Hawkeye Invitational, highlighted by Maisy Barbosa's preliminary swim in the 200-yard individual medley which vaulted her into the program's top five.
Â
"We had a little bit of rust, but we shook most of it off, I think. It is an encouraging start," CSU coach Christopher Woodard said. "I think what's really encouraging is not only seeing season bests, which we all expect those, but we had a handful of personal bests, some people just outdoing themselves. And we were seeing it from some people who aren't the primary contributors."
Â
The senior had a tough back-to-back lineup to start the day, swimming the final heat in both the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM at the CRCW Aquatics Center at the University of Iowa. She saved her best for the second event, posting a 2:01.14, the fourth-best time in program history, just 1.1 second off the school record .
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She would place seventh overall in the finals, coming in at 2:02.28 after dropping her finals swim in the 500 free (she qualified for the B final). Woodard's team had 10 finals swims on the day -- the top 32 from the preliminaries return for finals heats with only the top 16 scoring – with five swims showing improvement from the morning session.
Â
"I think what's been most impressive is not just her story of returning from surgery and returning to her form from her freshman year, it's been her willingness to be aggressive. She just seems to have tapped into this fearlessness where she's just going to see what she can do," Woodard said. "Then she typically drops a crazy last 50 in the IM. I was really impressed with that morning swim.
Â
"It goes against our better judgement because we like to go for the points (in the 500), because we saw a couple of things she could clean up and maybe take a shot at the school record, take a shot at the U.S. Open cut because she was just half a second off, but it just wasn't to happen tonight."
Â
Colorado State's relays both placed with season-best times to place 10th, with the 200 free team (Azalea Shepherd, Dawson, Ashlyn Hembree, Trietley) taking 10th in a season-best time of 1:32.88. The first day closed as the Rams' 400 medley team (Tess Whineray, Katie Flynn, Erin Dawson, Trietley), posted a 3:42.21.
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The Rams sat in seventh as a team with 191 points.
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Dawson had the same double as Barbosa, placing sixth in the 500 free at 4:50.77, then taking 16th in the 200 IM. Mia Axelman, who slipped into the D final when Barbosa scratched the race, dropped time in her second swim to finish 27th. Maya White gave the Rams a pair of scorers in the longest race of the day, taking 10th in 4:51.50.
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Colorado State's other individual point scorer on the day was Trietley with her 11th-place finish in the 50 freestyle in 23.24 after dipping into the 22s for the first time this season in the morning as she touched in 22.97.
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In the 50, Azalea Shepherd had a second swim (23.56, 27th); while in the 200 IM, Addison Wicklund (22nd, 2:05.58), Katie Flynn (26th, 2:04.96) and Lindsey Blake (30th, 2:06.06) all dropped time during the evening session. The swims from Blake, Shepherd and Axelman were part of the upbeat vibe created by people hitting not just season bests, but personal bests. Axelman's 500 shows her potential as a possible scorer at conference.
Â
"It gives us a better idea of what our conference lineup is going to be. The question with Mia was what's going to be her third event," Woodard said. "Typically, she's in events which are really hard to score in at conference with the 100 and 200 (freestyles). Now it seems like we've got a bead on a 500 with a personal best."
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Friday's second day of the meet will follow the same time schedule, the preliminaries beginning at 9 a.m. (MT), the finals slated for 4 p.m. There is a live stream for each session.
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Players Mentioned
FR, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BK, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BR, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR, FLY, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BR, FLY, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR, BR, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BK
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR, BR IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
BR, IM
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