Donning pink caps in appreciation of honorary team member Abby Holbrook, the Colorado State women’s swim and dive team knocked off the University of Northern Colorado 183-159 Wednesday at the Moby Pool for their final dual meet of the 2016-2017 regular season.
The pink-capped Rams honored Abby Holbrook in their final meet of the season. The young girl was honored for her brave battle against Transverse Myelitis and Chiari Malformation, an inflammatory condition of the spinal cord that can affect adults and children and result in severe paralysis and other complications.
For seniors like Emily Williams it was their last time competing at CSU, and did not waste the opportunity. In her last event as a Ram, Williams won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 252.98. Freshman Madi Guess finished 2nd (251.48) and sophomore Nicole Sisco finished 3rd (239.25).
For Gianna Salanitro the meet took an unfamiliar path, as the junior found herself competing against her sister Brianna Salanitro, a member of the UNC swimming team. Gianna got the best of her sister, finishing 2nd in the 500 Freestyle (5:19.67) with her younger sister finishing 3rd (5:21.83).
“It’s the coolest thing ever, with us both being division-I athletes,” Salanitro said about swimming against her sister, “She has always been my biggest supporter and I would not trade it for the world.”
As a team, the Rams took first in 12 of 14 events.
“We got to rest some of our top performers and get some of the more inexperienced swimmers some action,” CSU head coach Christopher Woodard said after the meet. “We had some swimmers who maybe aren’t in the spotlight as much really perform well and that was important”.
CSU finished the regular season with a 3-1 record at home and a 3-4 record overall. Next up for the Rams will be the Mountain West championships in College Station, Texas on Feb. 15-18.
“We have been focused on getting better at one thing at a time, that what has been our goal all season, everybody contributes.” Woodard said about his team’s season, “At the conference meet that mean everyone is scoring. They have really become a unified team over the season and dedicated to the process.”
Colorado State will be looking to improve on an eighth place finish in the Mountain West championships form a season ago, but Woodard says the team is trying not to get ahead of themselves.
“It’s hard to not look past the last meet, they all desperately want to get to championships,” Woodard said. “Anytime we are winning events it’s a shot in the arm for them.”
Collegian sports reporter Tyler Johnson can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @TylerGJohnson20
