The Wyoming Cowboys and the Denver Pioneers faced off in Colorado today and the rivalry inspired some great racing. Several athletes on both sides took multiple wins to keep it interesting, but Denver managed to best Wyoming in both the men’s and women’s competitions. The Pioneer women won 164-136, and the #16 ranked Denver men defeated the Cowboys 157-141.
In the women’s meet, the Cowgirls won both relays along with five individual events, but Denver took a dominant nine events with three of them racking up points as 1-2 finishes.
The Wyoming squad of Abby Sullivan, Maria Harutjunjan, Molly Coonce and Emily Ridout combined to hand Denver a loss in the 400 medley relay, besting the Pioneers 3:43.88 to 3:45.77. Denver answered by taking the top two spots in the next three events on wins from Tyra Rooney in the 1000 free (10:28.42,) Maddie Myers in the 200 free (1:52.97,) and Johanna Roas in the 100 back (55.84.)
Maddie Myers was the most dominating swimmer of the meet, earning a triple with additional wins in the 500 free (5:01.91,) and 200 IM (2:06.15.) Johanna Roas was also a double winner, taking the 100 free with 50.39.
Denver also earned top finishes from Grace Sommerville in the 200 fly (2:04.89,) Morgan McCormick in the 200 back (2:01.33,) and Amanda Sanders in the 200 breast (2:17.08.)
Wyoming’s Maria Harutjunjan won the 100 breast in 1:03.16, just ahead of Sanders at 1:03.37. The race between the two was just as intense in the 200 breast as the Cowgirl finished second to Sanders in that race by just .37. Wyoming also took wins in the 50 freestyle on a 23.09 from Emily Ridout and in the 100 fly on a 55.93 from Molly Coonce. The diving events were also taken with a double winner for the Pokes, as Kari Campbell took the 1-meter with a score of 286.80 and led a 1-4 sweep of the 3-meter with 307.73.
The Pokes squad of Isobel Ryan, Danielle Badger, Mary Uselmann and Ridout won the 200 free relay by exactly one second over Denver’s A squad with 1:33.74 to end the meet.
In the men’s meet, every individual event was taken by an athlete earning two wins for the night, with two event sweeps in the mix.
Denver’s Dylan Bunch might have been the most impressive athlete of the night. He not only took wins for the 1000 free in 9:35.16 and the 500 free in 4:35.77, but he also jumped right out of the longest event to contribute a second place finish in the 200 freestyle. His 1:40.21 was just ahead of fellow Pioneer Luke Williams (1:41.41) and behind teammate Ray Bornman (1:39.19) to complete a 1-3 sweep of the event. Bornman also won the 100 free later in the meet with 45.47.
The Pioneers also got two wins from Anton Loncar in both backstroke events, finishing the 100 in 49.62 and the 200 in 1:48.21. Kyle Robrock turned in a 20.37 in the 50 free and a 49.08 for the 100 fly for a double as well.
Gabriel Rooker led a solid Wyoming breaststroke squad with two wins. He won the 100 in 55.03, ahead of teammate Kyle Scalise at 56.49. Rooker (2:00.99) and Scalise (2:06.18) were joined by teammates Liam Holt (2:06.60) and Loren Sether (2:06.97) to complete a 1-4 sweep of the 200 breaststroke.
Wyoming’s Ryan Nelson also brought the Cowboys two wins with 1:51.14 for the 200 fly and a 1:52.99 for the 200 IM. Diving was a big scorer for the Pokes as well, with Jake Rehmeier winning the 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 302.03 and 288.68.
Denver managed to take the win for both relay events with the squad of Loncar, Travis Greenwald, Robrock and Bornman opening the meet with a 3:18.76 in the 400 medley relay. The team of Bornman, Robrock, Patrick Guillory and Loncar ended the meet with a 1:21.15, edging out Wyoming’s A relay by .43.