Mountain West Coaches Pick Boise State Women as Favorites to Win 2015 Title

An admission by the SwimSwam editorial staff: the Mountain West Conference, among mid-majors, might just be our favorite to cover. It’s a much deeper conference than most of the country realizes, and with Boise State, San Diego State, and UNLV leading the way, is a conference that has made a ton of noise in March at NCAA’s over the last few seasons. It’s a competitive meet, it’s a fast meet, and it’s and a deep meet. The mere fact that a team of the quality of San Jose State is picked to finish 8th shows how good this conference is. Don’t miss it.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A voting panel comprised of the 10 Mountain West head women’s swimming & diving coaches chose Boise State as the favorite to win the 2015 MW championship title. The Broncos collected seven first-place votes and 79¬ total points, while San Diego State was selected to finish second with 75 points and claimed three first-place votes. Nevada and Wyoming are expected to provide the biggest challenge to the top contenders. The Wolf Pack and Cowgirls tied for third in the poll, collecting 61 points each. UNLV (41 points) claimed fifth place, while Air Force and New Mexico tied for sixth with 37 points each. San José State (eighth, 30 points), Colorado State (ninth, 19 points) and Fresno State (10th, 10 points) round out the poll.

The 2015 Mountain West Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships will be held next week at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas. Competition will begin on Wednesday, February 18 at 12:30 p.m. CT with the 1-meter springboard preliminaries and run through Saturday, February 21. Each day will begin with preliminary heats in the morning, followed by finals sessions at 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday’s finals session will begin at 6 p.m. CT with the annual Senior Recognition Ceremony.

Boise State and San Diego State have been the league favorites since the Broncos joined the MW in 2011-12. BSU has won the title two of the past three seasons, edging out the Aztecs for the 2012 crown with a win in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. SDSU earned the championship in 2013 with five individual titles and wins in four of the five relays.

Live video and results, team scores, event highlights and more information from the meet is available on the MW Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship Central page at TheMW.com. There is no fee for the live broadcasts.

In addition, fans can watch live video on their mobile devices for free on the MW mobile app. Real-time results are also available on mobile devices through the Meet Mobile app for a nominal fee of $1.99 per month. The Mountain West and Active Network applications can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads, and from Google Play for Android phones and tablets.

Fans also can follow the championships through the league’s social media channels on Twitter (@MW_OlySports), YouTube(MountainWestConf), Facebook (MountainWestConference) and Instagram (MountainWestConference) for updates on each day’s events. Followers are encouraged to use the hashtag #MWSD15 when posting throughout the week.

Event Notes:

50-yard freestyle – Six student-athletes have posted NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the event this season. San Diego State sophomore Anika Apostalon leads the group with a mark of 22.28, followed by teammate Chelsea Bailey (Sr.) with a 22.72. The Boise State pair ofBrittany Aoyama (So.) and Sam Wicks (Jr.) posted season-highs of 22.75 and 22.77, respectively. UNLV’s Julia Fehervari (22.80; Jr.) and Wyoming’s Emily Ridout (22.83; Jr.) round out the top of the swimmers making the ‘B’-cut.

100-yard freestyle – Anika Apostalon and Brittany Aoyama lead the list of five MW swimmers with NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 100-free at 48.04 and 49.33, respectively. Chelsea Bailey (49.59) and Sam Wicks (49.68) also added the 100 to their list of ‘B’-cuts. Boise State rookie Emma Chard joins the group with a time of 49.98.

200-yard freestyle – Brittany Aoyama holds the top spot in the 200-free with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:46.99. Joining her with a ‘B’-cut mark is San Diego State junior Natilee Ruiz at 1:47.58.

500-yard freestyle – Air Force sophomore Genevieve Miller maintains the league’s top spot in the distance races. Miller has an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:43.96, a mark that ranks fourth in MW event history. San José State junior Riley Spitser joins Miller this season with a ‘B’-cut going into the MW Championships with the second-fastest time in the league at 4:46.10, good for sixth on the MW all-time list in the 500-free.

1,650-yard freestyle – Genevieve Miller also posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the 1,650-free with a 16:17.20, the second-fastest time in MW history.  Her 1,000-yard freestyle split time of 9:52.54 is also the fastest in the MW this year. Riley Spitser has the second-best time in the league this season at 16:34.72.

100-yard backstroke – Swimmers from three different MW team have posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the event in 2014-15.  Anika Apostalon holds the top time in the event with a 52.10, while Sam Wicks swam a season-best 52.92. UNLV junior Lena Gavrilovaposted the third-best time in the Conference of 54.35.

200-yard backstroke – Natilee Ruiz holds the only NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the Conference during the regular season with a 1:57.79. San José State freshman Morgan McCormick is second in the league with a 1:59.79, followed by Boise State senior Nikki Cannon with a 1:59.80.

100-yard breaststroke – After not having any NCAA ‘B’ cuts last year during the regular season, five MW swimmers met the mark in 2014-15. UNLV sophomore Lina Rathsack holds the top time in the MW this year, and fifth-best all-time, with a 1:01.36, followed by Wyoming’s Emily Ridout (1:01.80; Jr.) and Maria Harutjunjan (1:01.87; Fr.). Seniors Emilie Campbell of San Diego State andHeather Harper of Boise State made the cut with times of 1:01.96 and 1:02.06, respectively.

200-yard breaststroke – Heather Harper leads a group of five swimmers with NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 200-breast. She holds this season’s top MW time of 2:13.77, cracking the MW top-10 all-time in 10^th place. Lina Rathsack is in second at 2:14.64, followed closely by Air Force senior Kim Davis with a time of 2:14.93. Rounding out the top five are Emilie Campbell (2:15.08) and Maria Harutjunjan (2:15.87).

100-yard butterfly – Brittany Aoyama and Wyoming junior Molly Coonce have two of the top 10 times in MW history, while setting NCAA ‘B’ cut marks in the process. Aoyama, with the second-fastest time ever in league history, swam a 52.06, while Coonce is ninth all-time, clocking in at 53.33. San Diego State freshman Summer Harrison and Boise State sophomore Katelyn Martin also posted ‘B’-cuts with times of 53.50 and 54.47, respectively.

200-yard butterfly – Molly Coonce has the MW’s only NCAA ‘B’ cut time in the event this season with a 1:59.42. SDSU sophomoreFridda Berggren holds the second-fastest time with a 1:59.61.

200-yard individual medley – Sam Wicks leads at trio of MW swimmers with NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 200-IM. Wicks has posted a 1:58.83, which is fifth on the MW all-time list. Natilee Ruiz and Boise State freshman Morgan McClure swam a 2:00.51 and 2:01.41, respectively.

400-yard individual medley – Kim Davis tops the list of three swimmers to make NCAA ‘B’ cuts during the season with a time of 4:16.20. Morgan McClure and her Boise State teammate Whitney Jorgensen (So.) hold the other two marks with a 4:17.71 and 4:18.83, respectively.

Relays – Boise State boasts three of the top relay times in the MW this season – 800-yard freestyle (7:18.39), 200-yard medley (1:39.07) and 400-yard medley (3:37.99). San Diego State paced the league in the 200-yard freestyle (1:30.01) and 400-yard freestyle (3:18.03) with both times meeting the NCAA provisional standard for the 2015 national post-season.

1-meter diving – Nevada junior Krysta Palmer leads the group of 15 Mountain West divers who have posted NCAA qualifying marks in the event. Palmer set a Mountain West record on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 350.25 in Davis, California on November 8, 2014. San Diego State freshman Alexandra Caplan holds the second-highest score of the season with a 314.03, followed by San José State rookie Cari Reiswig with a 301.45.

3-meter diving – Krysta Palmer also holds the top mark in the MW this season with a MW record 415.58 posted on January 24, 2015 at Lombardi Pool in Reno, Nevada. Palmer is the first MW diver to top the 400-point mark in the event. Cari Reiswig claims the second-highest score of the season at 345.85, while Alexandra Caplan had the third-best mark in the Conference at 329.35. Fifteen MW divers have qualified for NCAA Zones in the event.

Platform diving – Three MW divers have qualified for NCAA Zones thus far in 2014-15, led new MW record holder Krysta Palmer with a score of 328.00. Wyoming junior Kari Campbell (249.60) and Boise State sophomore Jordan Marthens (230.75) round out the group of current qualifiers.

Outside the pool – Three swimmers are currently representing their respective institutions on the Mountain West Student-Athlete Advisory Committee – Sara Menke (Air Force), Felicity Cann (Boise State) and Haley Smith (San José State). Cann has spent the past academic year participating in MW Joint Council meetings as the student-athlete representative.