Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, October 31
Laramie, WY
4:00 PM
Colorado State
146
at
154
Wyoming
Rams Touched Out In Border War
10/31/2025 7:18:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Final score trumps strong efforts
LARAMIE, Wyo.  – Emotions were mixed for the team, but in the end, one had to rule the mood.
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Anger. Without question, Colorado State's women's swimming and diving team posted some strong performances, but in the end, Wyoming had a few more tricks up its sleeve in taking the Border War dual at Laramie High School, 154-146.
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"I hate losing, and it's not even just me losing, but I also hate when the team loses, and I feel like everybody shares the same feelings," Erin Dawson said. "Especially when I lose, I don't really think of myself, I immediately think of the points lost for the team. But I know that we come back from losses really well, so I think we're gonna know what we need to work on. We got out-touched a lot, so we're gonna work on that a little bit."
Â
There are certain things coaches feel they can depend on, but they also plan on some surprises. Both teams felt both ends on Friday night at Laramie High School, it was just the Cowgirls pulled more tricks out of their bag, finished some tight races with a bit more grit.
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Wyoming counts on Tara Joyce and Macey Hansen, a pair of conference champions, to post wins, which they both did twice. Hansen takes care of the distance freestyle, Joyce's specialty the mid freestyles. The two combined to post wins in areas where the Rams try to count on points, the 100- and 500-yard freestyles, where Lexie Trietley and Dawson set up camp more often than not.
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Joyce touched out Trietley in the 100, with the Rams going 2-3-4 in the event. The 500 free was the highlight of the evening, and it went Hansen's way at the end.
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The race was a pairing of the past two Mountain West champions in the event, Dawson taking it in 2024, Hansen this past year. The two were side by side for the entirety of 20 lengths, none ever holding much of an edge. Dawson did in the final three legs, up until the final 25 yards when Hansen touched the wall just .06 in front.
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A great race, one both coaches know can go either way. The biggest surprise the Cowgirls threw at the Rams was freshman Raiden Harris, who won the 50 free, took second in the 200 backstroke and led off the winning 200 free relay which iced the outcome.
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"I mean, it goes in both directions. I mean, it's hard to be really surprised with what Wyoming can do against us," CSU coach Christopher Woodard said. "They do show up with maybe some names that we weren't fully prepared for, maybe Raiden Harris, somebody that we you should have queued in on a little bit more.
Â
"I think there's lessons to learn from this There was a host of touchouts that we were on the other side of that we've got to figure out how to close those races. Macey made her mark last year; she is no joke in the distance and in the 500 she's lights out, so I'm sure Erin is disappointed only taking one win out of her three individual events, but there's things that we can work on to get better."
Â
The only way to catch up in a dual is to win races. Get to the wall first, a team will make gains on the scoreboard. Azalea Shepherd dialed in a win in the 100 butterfly to help the cause, while Tess Whineray provided her normal two wins in the 100 and 200 backstroke. In the one stroke where the teams felt could flip either way, Claire Wright won both breaststrokes impressively.
Â
For her, it was going back to what she trusted.
Â
"I have trained with amazing breaststrokers my entire swimming career and especially here," Wright said. "So, I think just being able to look back on those races and wanting to do it for the whole team. I'm somebody who does like to maybe back-half that 200 a little bit, but it's just about that fight."
Â
Which Dawson found two races after losing the battle in the 500 free. Woodard told her before the 200 individual medley she had to win for the team to have a chance. So, she took her anger and turned it into fuel, pulling away in the race while freshman Monica Schmidt (third) and redshirt sophomore Maddie Geyer (fifth) – who was asked to swim the event less than two minutes before it started.
Â
Woodard tells his team that being sad is a place they can get stuck in, whereas anger will trigger a response.
Â
"Two years ago, a similar thing happened here to me, and I was losing, and I was so ticked. People are sad for like a little bit, but I'm more like going into practice the next week being, 'oh my god, that's never going to happen again, like I never want to feel that again.
Â
"Something that I do is I try not to get complacent. Yeah, I won the 200 IM, but I know I just want to keep getting better.
Especially since my 200 and 500 free I didn't win. So, I think I focus more on those, and for me, I need to work on my finishes, and then with the 200 IM, I just can't get complacent with that."
Â
This was the third consecutive year the Rams have dropped the dual with Wyoming, each result close, each added year adding more sting. Woodard wants his team to feel it deep down and do something about reversing the trend.
Â
Wright knew exactly where to go with her emotions and how to use them.
Â
She reflected back on a pair of job interviews on Tuesday, where a question asked made her pause momentarily but knowing exactly where to find the answer. Because swimming is the type of sport where even days with individual success leave you uneven.
Â
"I was talking about how swimming is a little bit more objective than other sports. It is a lot of failure because they asked me, 'how do you deal with failure? What's the time that you failed?'" she said. "I said swimming is sort of failing all the time and every day. If you don't go that time you failed. It's not like you can go say, 'oh, next game I got it.
Â
"I can go and score another goal, and so I honestly think this is just a great learning opportunity for us. We love racing this team. They're so perseverant, and after what they went through two years ago, it's just nice to get up and race people who are passionate about racing and even want to race you and want to beat you. That's something that's really fun is being competitive."
Â
Â
Anger. Without question, Colorado State's women's swimming and diving team posted some strong performances, but in the end, Wyoming had a few more tricks up its sleeve in taking the Border War dual at Laramie High School, 154-146.
Â
"I hate losing, and it's not even just me losing, but I also hate when the team loses, and I feel like everybody shares the same feelings," Erin Dawson said. "Especially when I lose, I don't really think of myself, I immediately think of the points lost for the team. But I know that we come back from losses really well, so I think we're gonna know what we need to work on. We got out-touched a lot, so we're gonna work on that a little bit."
Â
There are certain things coaches feel they can depend on, but they also plan on some surprises. Both teams felt both ends on Friday night at Laramie High School, it was just the Cowgirls pulled more tricks out of their bag, finished some tight races with a bit more grit.
Â
Wyoming counts on Tara Joyce and Macey Hansen, a pair of conference champions, to post wins, which they both did twice. Hansen takes care of the distance freestyle, Joyce's specialty the mid freestyles. The two combined to post wins in areas where the Rams try to count on points, the 100- and 500-yard freestyles, where Lexie Trietley and Dawson set up camp more often than not.
Â
Joyce touched out Trietley in the 100, with the Rams going 2-3-4 in the event. The 500 free was the highlight of the evening, and it went Hansen's way at the end.
Â
The race was a pairing of the past two Mountain West champions in the event, Dawson taking it in 2024, Hansen this past year. The two were side by side for the entirety of 20 lengths, none ever holding much of an edge. Dawson did in the final three legs, up until the final 25 yards when Hansen touched the wall just .06 in front.
Â
A great race, one both coaches know can go either way. The biggest surprise the Cowgirls threw at the Rams was freshman Raiden Harris, who won the 50 free, took second in the 200 backstroke and led off the winning 200 free relay which iced the outcome.
Â
"I mean, it goes in both directions. I mean, it's hard to be really surprised with what Wyoming can do against us," CSU coach Christopher Woodard said. "They do show up with maybe some names that we weren't fully prepared for, maybe Raiden Harris, somebody that we you should have queued in on a little bit more.
Â
"I think there's lessons to learn from this There was a host of touchouts that we were on the other side of that we've got to figure out how to close those races. Macey made her mark last year; she is no joke in the distance and in the 500 she's lights out, so I'm sure Erin is disappointed only taking one win out of her three individual events, but there's things that we can work on to get better."
Â
The only way to catch up in a dual is to win races. Get to the wall first, a team will make gains on the scoreboard. Azalea Shepherd dialed in a win in the 100 butterfly to help the cause, while Tess Whineray provided her normal two wins in the 100 and 200 backstroke. In the one stroke where the teams felt could flip either way, Claire Wright won both breaststrokes impressively.
Â
For her, it was going back to what she trusted.
Â
"I have trained with amazing breaststrokers my entire swimming career and especially here," Wright said. "So, I think just being able to look back on those races and wanting to do it for the whole team. I'm somebody who does like to maybe back-half that 200 a little bit, but it's just about that fight."
Â
Which Dawson found two races after losing the battle in the 500 free. Woodard told her before the 200 individual medley she had to win for the team to have a chance. So, she took her anger and turned it into fuel, pulling away in the race while freshman Monica Schmidt (third) and redshirt sophomore Maddie Geyer (fifth) – who was asked to swim the event less than two minutes before it started.
Â
Woodard tells his team that being sad is a place they can get stuck in, whereas anger will trigger a response.
Â
"Two years ago, a similar thing happened here to me, and I was losing, and I was so ticked. People are sad for like a little bit, but I'm more like going into practice the next week being, 'oh my god, that's never going to happen again, like I never want to feel that again.
Â
"Something that I do is I try not to get complacent. Yeah, I won the 200 IM, but I know I just want to keep getting better.
Especially since my 200 and 500 free I didn't win. So, I think I focus more on those, and for me, I need to work on my finishes, and then with the 200 IM, I just can't get complacent with that."
Â
This was the third consecutive year the Rams have dropped the dual with Wyoming, each result close, each added year adding more sting. Woodard wants his team to feel it deep down and do something about reversing the trend.
Â
Wright knew exactly where to go with her emotions and how to use them.
Â
She reflected back on a pair of job interviews on Tuesday, where a question asked made her pause momentarily but knowing exactly where to find the answer. Because swimming is the type of sport where even days with individual success leave you uneven.
Â
"I was talking about how swimming is a little bit more objective than other sports. It is a lot of failure because they asked me, 'how do you deal with failure? What's the time that you failed?'" she said. "I said swimming is sort of failing all the time and every day. If you don't go that time you failed. It's not like you can go say, 'oh, next game I got it.
Â
"I can go and score another goal, and so I honestly think this is just a great learning opportunity for us. We love racing this team. They're so perseverant, and after what they went through two years ago, it's just nice to get up and race people who are passionate about racing and even want to race you and want to beat you. That's something that's really fun is being competitive."
Â
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Players Mentioned
FR, FLY, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FL, IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
FR
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BK
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