Swimming and Diving Take on RMAC Championship

The Colorado School of Mines swimming and diving team traveled to Grand Junction for the four day competition known as the RMAC Championship.

Day one of the competition saw two school records fall and four All-conference performances. Cayla Wood saw both of these records broken and recorded two of the four All-conference distinctions with her performance in the women’s 200 individual medley (IM) and the women’s 200 medley relay. In the 200 IM, Wood finished third with a NCAA B-standard time of 2:06.53, and in medley relay, along with teammates Camille Davis (sophomore), Melanie Buckles (freshman), and Tasha Pfeiffer (junior), Wood helped lead the team to a third place finish with a time of 1:50.29. Both results earned Third Team All-conference.

In the men’s 200 IM, earning Third Team All-RMAC, freshman Todd Brannon finished third, while teammates Justin Dearden (sophomore) and Daniel Peter (senior) finished fifth and sixth respectively. In the men’s 200 medley relay, Peter and Brannon were joined by junior Will Porter and freshman Ethan Pfeiffer in a third place effort, again garnering the Third Team All-RMAC distinction. On the 3-meter diving board, junior Mark Repella just missed All-conference honors finishing fourth. The men’s team ended day one in third and the women in fourth.

Day two of the competition again saw school record breaking times. This time five records fell and seven All-conference accolades were earned. Becoming the first swimming champion in current head coach, Nate Rothman’s tenure, junior Zack Gertig captured the 200 freestyle with a B-standard time of 1:39.07 after breaking the RMAC record in the prelims with a swim of 1:38.89. Also in the 200 free, junior Kyle Burt garnered Third Team All-RMAC honors with a third place finish and a B-standard time of 1:41.27. In the 200 m freestyle relay, joined by Ethan Pfeifer, Kalen Rasmussen (junior), and Porter, Gertig lead the team to a third place finish and thus a Third Team All-RMAC distinction.

In the women’s 200 free relay, freshman Brittany Holloway, senior Monica Mick, sophomore Hillary Knaebel, and Tasha Pfeiffer finished fourth, breaking the school record with a time of 4:03.85. Wood broke another school record on day two finishing second in the women’s 200 free with a time of 1:54.86, good enough for Second Team All-RMAC.

In the 400 medley relay, the men finished third with a time of 3:27.49 and the women finished fourth with a time of 4:00.75 to break the school record. The Third Team All-RMAC men’s relay team consisted of Brannon, Rasmussen, Peter, and Gertig. The women’s team consisted of Mick, freshman Katrin Gallup, freshman Carrie Kralovec, and Knaebel. After day two, the Orediggers still sat in third and fourth overall.
The third day of competition was another solid performance by Oredigger athletes, with three more All-RMAC distinctions being earned.

Gertig, Ethan Pfeiffer, Burt, and freshman Josh Graber placed second in the 800 freestyle relay with a school record-breaking time of 6:45.50. Their performance garnered Second Team All-RMAC and B-standard recognition. In the women’s 800 free relay, Knaebel, Gallup, Kralovec, and Wood finished third, breaking another Mines school record and earning Third Team All-RMAC honors with a time of 7:51.02.
Day three saw Wood earn her third All-RMAC accolade with a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.87; Mines still sat third and fourth in the team standings after day three.

Day four saw Cayla Wood record yet another All-RMAC distinction finishing second in the women’s 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:22.54, her teammate, Gallup finished fifth. In the men’s 200 backstroke, Brannon Todd and Justin Dearden finished fourth and fifth respectively with Todd earning a B-standard time. The men’s 400 free relay finished in third place to grab third team All-RMAC with a time of 3:05.48. The team consisted of Porter, Pfeiffer, Gertig, and Burt. Overall, the men’s team finished in third out of four school and the women finished fourth out of five teams.