FORT COLLINS -- Not to be outdone by the men who failed to win first in only two events the week before, the women lost only three individual events to breeze by Colorado State 169-131 Saturday in Fort Collins.
"We really wanted to come into this meet after Christmas break and really trying to compete," said women's head coach Stan Crump. "And that's what I think we did today, we really came out and competed well."
The women were led in the meet by sophomore Brittany Davis, junior Natasha Schlup and freshman U-Nice Chan. The threesome captured seven first place finishes between them; Davis in the 200 free (1:55.03), 100 Free (53.69) and 500 free (5:14.64); Schlup in the 100 and 200 back with times of 58.72 and 2:06.36; none were bigger than Chan's finishes in the 1000 free (10:42.75) and 200 fly (2:06.19) which pushed the Rams down finishing second through fourth.
The Cougars also picked up individual wins in the 200 breast when Jamie Bloom touched the wall at 2:25.59, just in front of teammate Melanie Grant who finished at 2:27.72. Bloom also captured second place in the 100 breast with a time of 1:07.19.
Sophomore Hannah Palmer also picked up first place points in the 50 free by finishing at 24.58.
"It's been a few years since we have won here at Colorado State," Crump said. "We swam well and our divers really did well today. Our divers are as good as any divers in the conference."
Junior Aubrey Low and freshman Angela Nelson flip-flopped finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Low finished first on the 1-meter and second on the 3-meter. Nelson kept pace with the first place finish on the 3-meter and the second place finish on the 1-meter.
"I really like where we're at right now," Crump said. "We are swimming fast, we're competitive and I think we are a little farther ahead in ability than were we were last year."
The women will continue their season on the 28th when the face Air Force in Provo. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
The women will travel to the pools of Colorado State Saturday to face the Rams in a clash of Mountain West perennial powerhouses. The match-up will be the first for the Cougars since the Speedo Cup held on November 22. The Rams will head into the meet having swam against the University of Utah on Thursday and may have a little less Christmas break dust than the women from Provo.
"I really don't know what to expect," said women's head coach Stan Crump. "I don't expect times to be fast, but I do expect us to go out and be competitive and race."
The women will benefit from the return of senior Nichole Tolley who joins the team after delivering a baby last semester. Tolley will bring help to a sprinting squad that also benefits with the return of Heidi Lietz who will join the team full time after completion of an internship and wedding in California.
"CSU has a lot of talent," Crump said. "I really expect this weekend to be a good meet, even better than last year."
Last year, the Cougars fell to the Rams 191-109 at home in the Richards Building pools. The women will look for some sweet payback on Saturday. The meet will begin at 2 p.m. at the Moby Pool.