Coming off two losses, Colorado State swim and dive showed out against Colorado Mesa University on Saturday 177-123.

The Rams were performing the best they have all season. They stepped up where it mattered most and got crucial wins in close situations to secure the win over CMU. CSU needed this win, and its hard fought performance showed that.

“Honestly, they kind of came in with a chip on their shoulder,” coach Christopher Woodard said. “They don’t like losing, and we talked about that last night. I mean, we opened up with two losses this year. That’s as many losses as we’ve had in the last three years. So, I think they were just tired of it, sick and tired. So, they swam really, really well.”

The dual kicked off with the 200 medley team of sophomore Tess Whineray, senior Katie Flynn, junior Erin Dawson and junior Lexie Trietley placing first and beating the record they set two weeks ago. The team swam a 1:42.48 beating their previous record of 1:42.77.

After her performance in the medley, Whineray competed in the 100 back and got a time of 54.46, which would have been a new pool record. However, she narrowly lost the race to Agata Naskret, who got a time of 53.46.

Whineray came into the 200 back and proved to everyone she is still the high-caliber swimmer that she is. She won the 200 back with a time of 1:58.32, setting the new pool record.

“Losing the record first I was pissed,” Whineray said. “I was really mad. I needed to get back up and go again and I really feel like that 200, I gave it what I had, and I wanted to show them that I wasn’t just going to sit down and take it and take the loss then take another loss. I wanted to come back and really go hard.”

Whineray wasn’t the only member of the medley team who got a record of her own. Trietley swam the 50 free with a time of 23.21 which tied her record that she set last year.

Dawson also had a standout performance. She set a new record in the 200 free with a time of 1:51.11. Dawson also narrowly won a close race in the 400 free with a time of 3:55.19. The energy at Moby Pool was electric as she came back to win that race last second by just .07 seconds.

“I mean, I know that a lot of people were stressed, and I was getting a little stressed.” Dawson said. “She was pulling away, but I was like, ‘I just got to stay calm, I know what I’m doing, my body knows what to do,’ and I think it’s just the drive. I love to win, I hate to lose, and so I think I just really wanted it.”

The Rams were performing well with some swimmers who hadn’t previously been in a scoring position. They came out and showed how well balanced CSU is as a team. Two standout performances were from graduate Skyler Lyon and senior Rylee O’Neil.

Lyon won two breaststroke events for the Rams, putting up impressive performances in both the 100 and 200. She swam 1:03.80 in the 100 and 2:21.97 in the 200. She showed out for this dual and displayed to everyone that she still means business.

O’Neil won two events as well, but in the butterfly category. She swam 2:05.09 in the 200 fly and was egged on by immense energy from the crowd for that win. After that win she came back into the 100 fly with even more confidence and won that race with a 56.80.

“We had some swimmers that maybe haven’t been in scoring position really start to flex their muscles,” Woodard said. “Skyler Lyon and Rylee O’Neil among some others. So yeah, definitely a shot in the arm for them, and that provides a huge shot in the arm for the rest of the team.”

The Rams also won in the 800 free and the 100 IM. In the 800 free, senior Maya White pulled off an impressive comeback win with a time of 8:06.79. Maisy Barbosa won the 100 IM with a time of 58.76.

The Rams were in control the entire dual and showed everyone that they should be taken seriously and that they are a competent team. CMU was only able to win three of the races, and even then they were all very narrow victories. The Rams displayed today that they are ready to move past those first two losses and continue into the rest of the season as a high caliber team.

Reach Mason Ford at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @mason_ford2891.

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