Whineray Punishes Record Book in Runner-Up Finish

HOUSTON – Once wasn't enough. Nor twice.

The third time brought Tess Whineray oh-so-close as the junior was a runner-up at the Mountain West Conference Championships for the second time in her career, breaking her school record in the 100-yard backstroke by becoming the first Ram to dip below 52 seconds with her 51.78 during Friday's finals session.

After going 52.12 to lead off the school-record 400 medley relay on Wednesday's opening day, she slid just a touch under during the 100 back preliminaries (51.10) to go in the second seed. When she touched the wall at the finish, the look on her face was pure joy mixed with the knowledge she put it out in the universe to come true.

"I've been saying all day I want to go 51.67, so, I kind of spoke it into existence. I was like, I'm going to go 51 tonight," Whineray said. "After the relay (the 200 medley to begin the evening), in the relay I wanted to go 24.5, so that I knew that in the lead out of the 100, I could go 24.9, which is what I was hoping to do. After I did that in the relay, I was like, 'OK, it's happening. I feel good. I feel confident.'

"I just wanted to have fun with it and enjoy it and not black out like I usually do but know that it just happened. I think I really was there for the whole race. And it was fun."

She took second to three-time event champion Scarlett Ferris of Nevada, who broke the conference record with a 51.07. She needed to, because Whineray's time stands as the second fastest in conference history.

Records have been her thing this weekend as the 200 medley team, which included Claire Wright, Mavi Nehir Isman and Lexie Trietley, lowered the school standard to 1:38.54 to place fourth, the second time this weekend a Rams' relay has just missed the podium.

For Nehir Isman, the record felt especially sweet as she was added to the quad that day, replacing freshman Evie Munz who was part of the team when it broke the record earlier this year. Nehir Isman earned the butterfly leg by having a dazzling weekend in the leadup, posting the fifth-best time in the 100 butterfly on Thursday, then qualifying for the 200 fly consolation finals in Friday's preliminaries. The race just so happened to come right after the relay, giving her less than 10 minutes to return to the blocks as she placed 24^th.

"It was just so rewarding to be with them, breaking that record. It felt awesome," she said, and she gave Trietley a kiss on the top of the head to celebrate the moment. "I've been feeling really good, and my approach this season overall was to take it step by step. I don't know … Getting into this race, I felt really strong. I felt like everything was clicking in some way. I was just excited to see what was going to happen. I was super pumped to just experience it."

She's also excited for Munz, who has challenged the junior all year, and they have another season together to do the same. Munz also happens to be her sidekick in a team pairing activity, which fits.

A bit of inner-team competition never hurts, especially in a sport where depth can make a difference in a dual meet or an invitational.

"This year we did this little thing called Big Ram, Little Ram, and she's my Little Ram, and I love her," Nehir Isman said. "Ever since she got here, her first day here, I went in to greet her. She is doing great. She is really building that beautiful foundation, and she is just so strong. She has this approach that is just going to win.

"I am really proud of her, and I really enjoy watching her race, because she definitely knows how to do it. She still is young, has a bunch of things to figure out, but I'm sure by the time she's a junior, an upperclassman, she's going to be having a lot of fun here."

Colorado State remains in eighth place in the team standings (517.5) after a day where the Rams experienced some real positives outside of what Whineray has been doing.

The conference introduced the team diving relay, where three divers from each team perform two dives each, utilizing both springboards and the platform while hitting all six dive categories. Maggie Di Scipio, Riley Lee and Juliana Dodd finished in sixth place.

They picked up points in the 100 breaststroke as Wright placed 16^th and Margo Hauser 23^rd. More points came from the backstroke as freshman Gabby Hall broke out the sixth-best time at CSU when she won the consolation final in 54.27, a 1.22 drop from the prelims. Sophia Hemingway placed 22^nd.

The third day closed with Mia Axelman, Erin Dawson, Whineray and Hauser placing seventh in the 800 free relay with a 7:18.85.

Whineray has played a big part in much of the weekend, somewhat behind the scenes on relays and in building team morale, but the final two days gave her a chance to take centerstage somewhat, with Saturday's 200 backstroke an event she's been targeting.

As a freshman, she placed second. Now, she'd like a title – all that's really missing from her resume – and a chance to go to the NCAA Championships by earning an automatic qualification. Coach Christopher Woodard felt she was in a good place heading to the meet, particularly after she swam a 53 flat 100 back off a push from the wall a week back.

A year ago at this time, she was scuffling. Those days are past.

"The first words out of my mouth when I hugged her and congratulated her were, 'was it all worth it?' She has put in an excessive amount of work and not only in the pool," he said. "I think outside of the pool she's done an amazing job trying to regain focus and passion and purpose.

"She said, 'yeah, it was all worth it.' That's shows when you love what you do, what you love, you're gonna get great results."

Sometimes a swimmer just needs something positive to happen. The day before the meet started, Whineray said she really wasn't feeling that great in the water at the CRWC Natatorium. A pep talk and a 400 medley relay later, that all changed.

She also feels the best is yet to come, because her blistering time in the 100 back proved to her she can go out fast and hold strong when it comes to adding another 100.

"I talked to Woody that day, that afternoon. I was like, 'Woody, I'm freaking out. I don't feel good. I'm worried about my taper,'" she said. "I'm worried that I'm going to be out for too long. He basically just told me to relax, just trust it. You know what you've done to get here and all that kind of good stuff. I tried to take that on board and then come into these races with no pressure.

"That was the least stress I felt standing behind the blocks for an A final in the last three years. So, I felt really happy with how I handled the pressure today, and that obviously paid off. I'm going to try and replicate that tomorrow."

Saturday's preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m., with the finals set for 5 p.m. Whineray, chilling in a cold tub pool side after warming down, really seems to be heating up.

One broken record at a time.

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