UW swimmer and divers beat TCU; Ortiz sets another school mark

Stephanie Ortiz

In an impressive performance that included first place finishes in 22 of 32 events, the University of Wyoming swimming and diving team swept TCU in Mountain West Conference dual action Saturday afternoon in Corbett Pool. The Cowgirls beat TCU 168-131 while the Cowboys cruised to a 191.5-106.5 victory.

With the wins, the Cowboys improve to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the MWC, while the Cowgirls improve to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the MWC. TCU falls to 4-1 overall and 2-2 in the MWC on the women’s side and 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the MWC for the men.

"Its a great conference win for the team today. We did well in the events we are good at like the breaststrokes, butterfly's, and backstroke," said UW head coach Tom Johnson. "The divers were dominant as usual and it was nice to have a home pool advantage today."

The UW divers took three out of four events, including two by Stephanie Ortiz who broke the school record in the three-meter diving with 313.73 points. Last week, Ortiz set the one-meter school record with her six dive total of 300.22 against New Mexico.

"It’s a great accomplishment for Stephanie to own both records. With her great training efforts she was been putting what she has learned into competition," said diving coach Ben Herdt.

On the diving boards for the men, Kyle Bogner won the one-meter diving with his six dive total of 325.50, a personal best. Mark Murdock had the highest score for the Cowboys on the three-meter board and finished second with a total of 321.15.

"Overall, we had a good day and helped the team earn a victory. We also had a few NCAA zone qualifying scores," Herdt said.

For the Cowgirl swimmers, Lesley Young led the way with two victories in the 200 IM (2 minutes, 12.40 seconds) and 200 breaststroke (2:24.20). She was also on the 200 medley relay team that possed a time of 1:46.14, a new Corbett Pool Record. Other Cowgirls on that team were Kelsey Conci, Shelby Bull, and Cassie Stelow. Other event winners for the Cowgirls were Aimee Stinson (1000 freestyle, 10:31.07), Kelsey Conci (100 backstroke, 58.13), Stephanie Vint (200 butterfly, 2:07.58), and Cassie Stelow (50 freestyle, 24.18).

Individually, the Pokes had three multi-event winners. Eli Bell won the 200 (1:42.71) and 100 freestyle (46.72). Alex Larkin won the 100 (57.33) and 200 breaststroke (2:05.67) while Matt Urich won the 200 (1:55.64) and 100 butterfly (50.72). The Cowboy relay team also won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:33.19.

The UW diving team will travel to Tucson, Ariz., to take part in the Wildcat Invite Friday through Sunday. The swimmers will have a break until taking on Denver on Dec. 13 in Corbett Pool at 1 p.m.