The Colorado State swimming and diving team defeated the Air Force Falcons 186-114 at Moby Pool Saturday.

On a day meant to honor the team’s four seniors, the standout performance of two underclassmen helped lead CSU to its second dual meet win of the season, which included sweeps of the top three spots in three events. 

“There’s always an extra charge when you have a senior meet,” CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said. “It doesn’t guarantee you wins by any stretch of the imagination but I think the team really rallied round the seniors. I think the underclassmen really wanted to send the seniors off the right way.”

Sophomore Katie Kicklighter placed first in both the 50- and 100-meter freestyle by placing posting times of 24.04 and 52.80. The Rams swept the top three spots with freshman Carmen Mand and junior Karin Roh finishing in second and third place behind Kicklighter in the 50-meter freestyle.

Freshman Natalie Grothe won her first 100-meter breaststroke of her collegiate career Saturday with a time of 1:06.05.

Senior Ariana Milone began her day with a win on the 3-meter boards by posting a score of 336.75. That score was good enough to qualify her for the NCAA Diving Zones. Milone then followed up that performance with a win in the 1-meter event, narrowly edging out the Air Force runner up.

Senior Jessica Sheppard also notched a win on Saturday, placing first in the 100-meter backstroke by notching a time of 57.06 seconds.

The Rams closed out the day with sweeps of the top three spots in both the 200-meter backstroke, led by freshman Hailey Spratte, as well as the 200-meter breaststroke, led by junior Jenna Beaury.

Collegian Sports Reporter Colton Strickler can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @ColtonStrickler.