Goal is Simple: Climb the Ladder

On the surface, the meet looks very status quo.

Of the 13 individual races which will be competed at the Mountain West Championships beginning Wednesday at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston, 11 will feature the returning champion. Much like Noah's Ark, they were seated in pairs, with the breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke races (100- and 200-yards) each won by the same person. Same for the sprint freestyle. The outlier was in the mile, Wyoming's Maisyn Klimczak.

Of those championships, eight of them belong to swimmers from San Diego State, results which led the Aztecs to repeating as conference champs and make them the favorite to do so again.

Colorado State has no interest in more of the same. The Rams came away from last year's championships frustrated and a bit perplexed.

Despite scoring more points than in the 2022 edition and having two more 'A' finalists, the Rams fell two spots in the standings, landing in seventh. There was a school record posted by Amanda Hoffman in the 200 butterfly -- the first one set in the program since Maddie Ward took down three in 2019 – but the depth wasn't there. Whereas three years prior every Ram who competed scored in all three of their individual events, not every Ram scored at the meet.

"I feel overall I wasn't upset with how we swam, the conference just got faster. I remember watching teammates swim and feeling proud of them," CSU co-captain Anika Johnson said. "I mean, I wasn't disappointed after the meet, but I was upset with how the meet went."

The offseason was about reflection for all of them, deep analysis by the coaching staff. Increasing the point total was nice – especially considering there was an extra team (New Mexico did not compete in the 2022 event) – but the drop in the standings was unsettling.

The focus was on where the Rams needed to improve to gain ground, and the first priority was to stack some points. Seven swimmers and two divers scored in all three of their individual events; five of those swimmers return this season.

"We needed a deeper team. Last year was the first time in four years where we hadn't scored everyone, so let's get back to where everyone is making an impact," CSU coach Christopher Woodard said. "Part of that shakeup was bringing in three transfers and five new faces from high school. It was eight new personalities to the team, all with the ability to impact the lineup. The second step was attending to what we really needed hammer out, which I think was needing to be in a better position to swim at night. Let's not only focus our efforts on not only racing in the morning but competing at night, finding positions where we can move up and make that happen."

The preliminary swims are important because they earn scoring lanes. But the right lane is important, because the better the heat, the more the point total climbs. The Rams had 43 finals swims in the meet, but the bulk came in the 'B' and 'C' finals, 33 combined, 17 in the bonus heat.

As Woodard noted, each individual needs to fight for that better spot, then once in the finals, move up from the seed. The schedule the team had this year, namely traveling East to face some different and stronger teams, was part of the training to do so, not just physically but mentally.

The season started with a loss to rival Wyoming, which stung but Woodard felt the team used positively as somewhat of a wakeup call after not having lost a dual the two seasons prior. A loss to Miami later on had the same effect.

"I think we've had a really good season this year. We're not undefeated, and losing is not good, but it showed us how to get a little gritty I think and dig deep in a sense and have to fight for a win," Johnson said. "In that sense, it's helped the mentality of we can't just walk in and expect everything to be alright. We have to fight for our spots."

And possibly, a conference championship.

Colorado State hasn't had a swimmer crowned at the meet in five seasons, when Ward won the 200 breaststroke. This meet, a pair of roommates will head to Houston with the top time in an event – Erin Dawson and Maya White.

Dawson holds the top time in the 400 individual medley with a 4:15.35, posted at the midseason Iowa Invitation, a time which stands second in program history. White enters with a 16:30.35, also dropped in Iowa. Both are NCAA 'B' cuts, and while White will have to unseat a defending champion, while Dawson's field is wide open.

They haven't talked about going in as the top seed, but both know it's there. Dawson popped at the conference meet last year, her third-place showing in the 400 IM the most notable of her swims at her first conference meet.

The race in Iowa led to a rush of enthusiasm for the junior.

"I think it represents more of a beginning. I swam that in Iowa, it was after Thanksgiving and we weren't fully tapered, so it's exciting to know if I can do that how much faster can I go fully tapered," she said. "I want to see how fast I can go, and I definitely want to win."

At that meet, Dawson hit an additional pair of eye-opening marks in the 200 (1:48.47) and 500 (4:52.07) freestyles, times which rank in the top three at CSU, altering the outlook of her season. She is the only Ram with four top-10 times in the Mountain West this season, and after scoring in the 200 IM a year ago, her entry card has changed, creating a challenging third day at the meet as the 400 IM and the 500 freestyle come back-to-back.

After bouncing back from an ailment her freshman season, Dawson has been in attack mode with her sights set on conference championships, and a challenging day is not a deterrent in any fashion.

"I think last year was the start. It showed me what I have in me, and every year after that is going to get better," she said. "I'm excited. I've always wanted that. It's been a goal of mine so it's cool to have that going into this meet."

A conference title or two wouldn't hurt the Rams' cause at all, but Woodard knows it's going to take even more than that to get back into the top half of the team race.

He's encouraged because transfer Sydney VanOvermeiren and freshman Tess Whineray have both posted program top-10 times in multiple events. The other newcomers also have the moxie to score well in multiple events, with Sophia Hemingway holding a top-10 conference time in the 200 back.

The team can enter 19 competitors, with divers counting as a half. The Rams will take two, putting 18 swimmers behind the blocks with the task being to find a lane in the evening. Then move up.

"We expect our top six are going to do the work they've always done. They're going to hit NCAA provisional times and be All-Mountain West and do the heavy lifting," Woodard said. "That second group of six, there's a lot of potential there with a lot of them in the mix, sneak them into the consolations or even the finals. The bottom six, we have to fight for every spot and every point we can get."

And in the end, grab a few extra rungs on the ladder.

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