UW swimmers win in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The University of Wyoming Cowgirl swimming and diving team won a total of 11 events on Saturday, as they defeated New Mexico and New Mexico State to advance their record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference.

Wyoming defeated UNM 195-105 for their first conference victory of the season. The Cowgirls also beat New Mexico State 208-92.

"It was a great day for us and we never looked back after winning the very first race," said UW head coach Tom Johnson. "There were a lot of season and personal best times for a lot of swimmers today so I am very pleased."

The Cowgirls started off by winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 46.43 seconds. Leading off that event was sophomore Kelsey Conci. Conci won the 50 freestyle as well with a time of 23.85, and was followed closely by senior Cassie Stelow in second place at 23.95.

Junior Stephanie Vint had a tremendous day for the Cowgirls with two individual victories and a second place finish. Vint won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.02 and swam the 200 IM in 2:08.04 for another first place finish. Vint placed second in the 100 butterfly (57.82) and also anchored the 400 freestyle relay that placed fourth.

On the diving boards, two Cowgirls scored high enough to qualify for NCAA Zone "E" Championships. Senior Stephanie Ortiz scored 283.70 points on three-meter and won in that event. Sophomore Tiffany Izatt placed the highest for the Cowgirls on one-meter in second place with a score of 265.15.

Other individual winners for Wyoming include Shelby Bull in the 100 freestyle (52.16), Paige Fischer in both the 500 freestyle (5:09.51) and 1000 freestyle (10:33.86), Lesley Young in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.06), and Lauren Hewson in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.32). Along with the 200 medley relay, the Cowgirls won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:32.59 with Bull, Caroline Wells, Kristen Flachbarth, and Stelow.

"All in all it was a great meet and I couldn’t be happier," Johnson said. "We had a lot of motivation coming in and faced two good teams today. We had a number of great performances and we are looking forward to our next meet."

Next week both the Cowboys and Cowgirls will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for a conference dual meet agaubst TCU, beginning at noon.