Courtesy of Mike Brohard
HOUSTON – Automatic, even when it clearly wasn’t the case.
Three individual champions were crowned in the lanes – all three nailing down NCAA Championship qualifications – during Thursday’s finals of the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships. Two of the races came down the wire while Scarlett Ferris decided to take all tension out of her third conference title.
The finals session was electric after a morning preliminary set where only one NCAA qualifying time was posted. That changed in the finals when six such times were posted, three of them during the 400-yard individual medley.
It was a freshman who held strongest down the stretch as Moji Pholjamjumrus of Nevada held off UNLV’s Grace Wharton in the lane next to her and two-time defending champion Erin Dawson of Colorado State out in Lane 7.
As both competitors made runs at her, the first-year found an extra gear in the final 50 to post a 4:11.07, the fifth-best time in conference history. Wharton came in at 4:12.19, Dawson at 4:12.24, both hitting the NCAA standard.
A race later, Wyoming’s Tara Joyce – the 2024 champion — punched her ticket with a 1:44.43 in the 200-freestyle, breaking the conference record in the process, as Erika Carlson of UNLV touched second in 1:45.08. Huska Batbayarof Nevada, the 2025 champ, was third.
The Wolf Pack would claim a pair of crowns on the night as Ferris put on an underwater clinic to take the 100-butterfly title after winning the 100-backstroke the past two seasons. With every wall she hit she built her lead to touch at 51.34, a conference record and also a trip to the NCAA Championships.
The second came in the diving well as Bailey Heydra scored 377.00 on the 3-meter springboard, clear of Wyoming’s Alicia Gonzalez at 355.55. It was a reversal of the 1-meter placings from the night before.
The festivities closed as Washington State won the 200-freestyle relay in 1:28.52 with the foursome of Darcy Revitt, Barbora Mileisyte, Issabelle Parrish and Addy Lewis. The Cougars did give up the lead in the team race through the day as San Diego State, stalking a fifth-consecutive crown, finished with 594 points at the halfway point. UNLV has moved into second with 530 while WSU sits third with 486.
Friday’s preliminary session starts at 10:30 a.m. (CT); finals are slated for 6 p.m. The lineup features three individual swimming events and a trio of relays, including the debut of the team diving relay, where each squad will have a trio of divers performing to dives each, two on each board.
Team Rankings Through Thursday, Feb. 19
- San Diego State – 594
- UNLV – 530
- Washington State – 486
- Nevada – 435.5
- Air Force – 352
- Fresno State – 340
- Wyoming – 320
- Colorado State – 319.5
- San José State – 268
- Grand Canyon – 183
- New Mexico – 108
