MW Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships Central | Follow @MW_OlySports on Twitter
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Boise State led from beginning to end to win its third Mountain West Women’s Swimming and Diving title. The Broncos, under the direction of second-year head coach Jeremy Kipp, tallied 1,390 points across 21 events at the Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station, Texas. This is the first year that the Mountain West scored the top 24 places in each individual event.
San Diego State finished second with 1,139 points, followed by Nevada in third with 1,089.5 and Wyoming placed fourth with 1,004. Colorado State was fifth with 791 followed by New Mexico (697), Fresno State (524), UNLV (520), San José State (496.5) and Air Force (479).
Boise State won all five relay events and five individual titles to contribute to the overall team victory. The Broncos are just the second team to sweep the relays at the MW Championships (San Diego State, 2014). Seniors Katelyn Martin and Brittany Aoyama, and sophomore Abbey Sorensen finished 1-2-3 in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday night to pick up 87 points in the event. On Friday evening, Aoyama won the 100-yard butterfly, junior Emma Chard won the 200-yard freestyle, and sophomore Allyson Kleinsorgen took the title in the 100-yard backstroke. Aoyama picked up her second individual crown on Saturday, winning the 100-yard freestyle.
Air Force senior Genevieve Miller was named the 2017 Swimmer of the Meet and the Senior Recognition Award honoree on Saturday evening. Miller became the league’s first four-time champion in two events, winning the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday and the 1,650-yard freestyle on Saturday. She set Mountain West overall and Championship records in both events. In the 1,650-free, Miller swam the conference’s first sub-16 minute time with a 15:58.06. She also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle and swam a leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Nevada junior Sharae Zheng swept the diving events, just the third time in Mountain West history that feat has been accomplished. It earned her 2017 Diver of the Meet honors. Zheng won the 1-meter springboard on Wednesday, the 3-meter springboard on Thursday and completed the trifecta on Saturday night with a victory on the platform.
San Diego State’s McKenna Meyer earned the 2017 Freshman of the Meet award for her rookie performance. Meyer placed in the top-5 in three individual events, including a win in the 400-yard individual medley on Friday night. She finished fourth in the 500-free and fifth in the 1,650-free. Meyer also swam the leadoff leg of the Aztec’s 800-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay races.
The 2017 Mountain West Swimmer of the Year, Diver of the Year, Swimming Coach of the Year and Diving Coach of the Year will be announced in March following the 2017 NCAA Championships.
SATURDAY EVENT NOTES:
• Fresno State sophomore Ugne Mazutaityte won the 200-yard backstroke with an NCAA ‘B’-cut time of 1:55.09.
• Wyoming junior Maria Harutjunjan took the 200-yard breaststroke title with an NCAA ‘B’-cut time of 2:11.53.
• New Mexico junior Anna Celine Bertrand gave the Lobos a win on Saturday night with a time of 1:59.25 in the 200-yard butterfly. The mark is an NCAA ‘B’-cut time.
Video highlights, event archives, results, team scores, photo galleries and more information from the meet is available on the MW Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship Central page.
Fans also can relive the championships through the league’s social media channels on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram by following the hashtag #MWSD17.
