CSU TO SPLIT SQUAD FOR PAIR OF INVITATIONALS THIS WEEK
The Colorado State Rams will split up its swimmers and divers this week as the team heads to a pair of invitational in the state of Texas. Both meets will run Thursday–Saturday.
CSU’s swimmers will compete at the Phil Hansel Invite hosted by Houston. In addition to the Rams and Cougars, Rice, Idaho, North Texas, New Mexico State, Tulane, Northern Colorado, UC Davis and Oregon State will participate, totaling 10 teams. On the diving side, CSU will be at the University of Texas Diving Invitational, joined by the host Longhorns, Houston, Trinity, North Texas, TCU, Wisconsin, California, Arizona State and Miami.
The pair of events are the last of the fall season for the Rams. CSU has competed in three dual meets and one invitational to this point, going 0-3 in the fall. Senior diver Ariana Milone has starred on the boards for CSU, winning seven of the eight events she has participated in. In all seven of her wins across both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter springboard, Milone has posted scores good enough to qualify for NCAA Zones.
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
SHEPARD STAYING THE COURSE
Senior Jess Shepard has been steady for CSU all fall, posting eight first- or second-place finishes so far. She tallied the most points of any CSU swimmer at Wyoming on Nov. 6, recording runner-up results in both the 200 IM and the 200 Backstroke. Shepard’s top time in the 200 Back (2:05.39) ranks 17th in the league and her best 200 IM (2:09.35) time ranks 15th.
UP NEXT
CSU will be off for the winter before returning to dual-meet action at Northern Arizona on Jan. 16. CSU’s lone home dual meet of the spring will be Jan. 30 versus Air Force.
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 CSU Swimming & Diving.