CSU HEADS SOUTH TO FACE NORTHERN ARIZONA TO OPEN 2016
The Colorado State Rams will head to Arizona to face Northern Arizona on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. MT. CSU went down to Arizona early for a multi-day training camp in Mesa, Ariz.
The dual meet is the first of 2016 for the Rams. The two squads last met in the 2013-14 season, with the Rams taking a 152-148 win in Fort Collins. CSU won the final two events of that meet to come from behind and take the win, the team’s closest since 2001.
The Rams took fifth at the Phill Hansel Invite to close out 2015, jumping ahead of Oregon State on the final day with some strong performances to give the coaching staff confidence headed into 2016.
“I think at the very least, the kids know what they’re capable of,” Head Coach Christopher Woodard said. “This is always a dicey part of the season for any team. It’s tough to put together workouts when you’re at home and to be able to sustain training camps during the winter break. But if we navigate all those minefields well, we will be all right.”
Heading down to NAU, Woodard is confident that his team can compete for its first dual meet win of the season, even if the team doesn’t beat a bunch of top times.
“I honestly don’t know what to expect,” Woodard said. “We will be swimming at 7,000-plus feet and swimming in short-course meters, so I don’t necessarily think we are going to see our best times but we will be going for wins. Against Air Force (Jan. 30 at Moby Pool) and at Northern Colorado I will expect to see times either that we hit very early in the season before we were at critical mass or times that we hit at midseason when we were ready to go. I expect as we get into those meets, that we will show polish heading into the later conference meets.”
The team left Monday morning for a five-day training camp outdoors in Mesa, Arizona. The weather forecast showed highs in the low-to-mid 60s all week, giving the Rams an opportunity to escape the cold and snow in Fort Collins.
“Our athletes are tough enough to where the weather shouldn’t be an issue,” Woodard said. “They will be happy to be outside and see the sun. They get to get outside and get tans and train outdoors. It’s a good break for them.”
RAMS EARN TOP TIMES AT PHILL HANSEL INVITATIONAL
The CSU Rams put together a collection of strong performances at the Phill Hansel Invitational in November, placing fifth as a team. The Rams posted top times for the season in 13 individual events and in four relays. Redshirt freshman Carmen Mand now holds three top times for the Rams in the 50 free and 100 & 200 fly. Freshman Tonicia Thomas (100 & 200 back) and junior Karin Roh (100 & 200 free) each have a pair of top times.
ROWLEY SET TO JOIN CSU SWIM TEAM
The Colorado State swimming and diving team has announced the addition of transfer Haley Rowley to the team. The Colorado native has enrolled in classes and will join the squad starting in the 2016-17 season.
Rowley, a native of Lafayette, Colorado and graduate of Centaurus High School, will bring an immense amount of ability to CSU.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Haley Rowley back to the state of Colorado,” Head Coach Christopher Woodard said. “Haley is an exceptional talent, who developed into a national caliber athlete under the tutelage of Shawn Smith of the Denver Hilltoppers. Haley is able to swim a multitude of events, but we expect she will focus quite a bit on backstroke, IM and distance free and be an immediate factor within the Mountain West and hopefully on the NCAA stage, as well.”
Rowley was an incredibly accomplished swimmer in the Colorado high school ranks, earning 2015 Colorado Swimmer of the Year her senior year. Rowley holds the state record in the 400 IM, and participated in Olympic Trials in 2012 and 2015. Her 2:14.9 time in the 200 backstroke in the 2012 Olympic Trials placed her 26th out of 186 competitors. Rowley was also a Scholastic All-American in high school, and was the 83rd-ranked swimmer in the class of 2015 according to CollegeSwimming.com.
Rowley competed for Purdue in the fall, posting the team’s fifth-best marks in the 1000 free (10:09.27), 200 back (2:01.18) and the fourth-best in the 400 IM (4:26.05).
MILONE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE BOARDS
Senior Ariana Milone continued her dominance in both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter Springboard events at Wyoming on Nov. 6, winning both with scores good enough to qualify for NCAA Zones. In total, Milone has won seven of eight diving events, with her scores in all seven victories qualifying her for NCAA Zones. Milone’s early-season performance earned her the first Mountain West Diver of the Week award on Oct. 20.
UP NEXT
CSU will host Air Force on Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. MT for its only home meet of the spring season. The Rams visited the Falcons in Colorado Springs last season, winning 163-137.
CSU PICKS UP NUMEROUS WINS AT INTERMOUNTAIN SHOOTOUT
The Rams picked up 10 wins at the Intermountain Shootout, taking place Oct. 9-10. The meet was hosted by Colorado Mesa University and also featured BYU, who posted the top score of the meet.
Although the Rams feel they did not have their best weekend up in Grand Junction, there is a lot of optimism for the season ahead. “We’re obviously not happy with the result, but it more great exposure to another quality team and I really, firmly believe that when we start getting healthy and back together as a full unit that we are going to be pretty tough,” Woodard said afterwards.
SEASON OUTLOOK – Expectations
CSU is coming off its second-straight winning season, going 5-4 in dual meets last season. The Rams are aiming to continue to rise in the conference, and will lean on their young talent to do so.
“I think the expectations for us are definitely to improve,” Head Coach Chris Woodard said. “We landed a great recruiting class and so far we’ve been really impressed by our freshmen in our work outs. We lost a very good senior class, but our hope is that most of our talent is young and with another season of experience, we will be a much tougher team. The expectations are just to compete. We don’t know where we sit, but we will find out real soon.”
ON THE NEWCOMERS
The Rams are anticipating a lot of production out of their talented freshmen this season.
“I think all of the newcomers have impressed as far as their discipline in the water,” Woodard said. “The biggest standouts on the swimming side are Tonicia Thomas and Mackenzie Halligan. Mackenzie comes with a pretty big resume and we knew Tonicia was talented, but she has taken over leading sets in work outs and has been a vocal leader. We have been very impressed with those two.”
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNEES
CSU boasted three all-conference performers last season – Katie Kicklighter (50-yard freestyle), Ariana Milone (1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard) and Tess Simpson (100-yard backstroke). Both Kickligher and Milone return this season, and will figure to lead the Rams yet again.
Milone’s importance on the boards will be huge all season.
“She’s one of the best in the conference and one of the best in the nation,” Woodard said of Milone. “She will continue to lead and after last year, breaking both school records, she’s coming in on a high note and she is ready to rip for her senior year.”
Kicklighter, just a sophomore this season, will look to secure a lot of points in the pool this season.
“She sets the tone,” Woodard said of Kicklighter. “A lot of other athletes just look to her to lead the way and score some serious points and she rarely disappoints.”
ON THE BOARDS
Milone will certainly be productive for the Rams in her senior year, but there are still some personnel questions with a trio of freshmen entering the fold in 2015-16.
“It’s tough to lose a leader like Mary Kate Hardy, but Emily Williams is a great veteran who always gets results for us,” Woodard said. “It’s a new bag with three freshmen, who are all very talented and raw in their own way. I have no doubt that Kevin Witt will have them ready by the end of the season and they’re probably going to be scoring points for us. We will find out against New Mexico, who has traditionally been one of the better diving teams in the conference.”
SEASON GOALS
Although the Rams had a winning dual meet record for the second-consecutive year, the Rams wound up taking 10th at the Mountain West Championship. CSU will aim to not sacrifice any success in the regular season while still climbing the league leaderboard at the end of the season.
“That’s been a real sticking point for us,” Woodard said. “We had some postseason success early when I was here, but then we realized we were sacrificing the entire season to get there. This year, I think the team has a little more depth and a little more toughness, so that we can swim tired and still get some wins. If we do that, we won’t get away too much from our training and focus for the offseason. We just have to have fun and relax and once we get to conference, and if we swim with a little attitude and with a chip on our shoulder and not be so intense.”
Swimming news courtesy of Colorado State Swimming & Diving.