The Colorado State University women’s swimming and diving team competed against the University of Denver Friday. The Rams defeated the Hilltoppers in the last race of the meet, winning 152-148. 

The first race of the meet set the tone for the following events, with Denver beating CSU by only 0.81 seconds in the 200-yard medley relay. CSU’s A relay team out-swam DU’s B and C relay teams by several seconds in this event.

In the longest race of the meet, the 1,000-yard freestyle, CSU proved their dominance, with Maya White defeating DU’s Angelina Lindsay by over five seconds and putting a quick time of 10 minutes, 32.15 seconds on the board. 

In the next two events, CSU placed first by narrow margins. In the 200-yard freestyle, Anika Johnson barely out-touched DU’s Ines Marin by only 0.24 seconds, and in the 100-yard backstroke, Lucy Matheson started her meet of dominance by winning by 0.84 seconds.

Junior Matheson had an incredible meet, winning all three of her individual events. She led off CSU’s A relay team in the 200-yard medley, won the 100-yard backstroke, won the 200-yard backstroke by nearly two seconds and won the 100-yard butterfly by 0.71 seconds.

There was yet another standout performance from freshman Alexis Trietley, who won both of her individual events and finished off both of CSU’s A relays. Trietley will be one to watch for the remainder of her swimming career at CSU.

Despite CSU’s dominant first half, the divers could not continue this trend. For the 1-meter springboard, all of CSU’s divers were averaging around five to six points per judge, per dive. However, the diving loss cannot solely be chalked up to skill. CSU only had four divers compared to DU’s six, which gave DU the ability to score more points. 

Colorado State junior diver Jozie Meitz made it into the top five, placing fourth overall in the 1-meter springboard with a score of 241.13. Her best average score was two sixes from the judges when she dove a backflip half twist.

Following diving’s intermission, swimming picked back up with the 100-yard freestyle, during which Trietley showed the audience her prestige in this event, blowing her competition out of the water by over a second. 

Despite the early success from the Rams after the break, the Hilltoppers were having phenomenal swims, with Jessica Maeda and Sophia Bricker placing first and third in the 200-yard breaststroke. 

The meet seemed to follow many trends. When one team would place first in an event, the other would typically place second and third, garnering more points than the team in first would. Because of this, CSU only led by one point by the last event: the 400-yard freestyle relay.

In order to win, either team would need to place first and second or first and third. The start was close — both teams were neck and neck going into the last 100 yards, but the Rams got a better start, which ultimately secured the top spot for CSU.

Yet because of the Hilltoppers’ second place finish, the Rams still needed to place third in order to win the meet. Thanks to some fast starts and turns, the CSU B relay team was able to place third, beating DU’s B relay by 1.44 seconds and securing the meet win for CSU.

This is CSU swimming and diving’s 17th consecutive dual meet win, and the Rams look to continue their streak against the University of Wyoming Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Moby Pool.

Reach Emma Askren at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @emma_askren.