MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The 2020 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships opened strong Wednesday with three events competing on the day.
San Diego State sits in first place with 202 points, the Pack is just nine points behind with 193. Wyoming (142), Fresno State (139), Boise State (132) and Colorado State (122) mark third through sixth, respectively, while New Mexico (117) sits in seventh and UNLV (108) in eighth. San José State (96) and Air Force (87) round out the standings after the first day.
Competition continues Thursday morning with preliminary heats starting at 11 a.m. CT.
The day started with all three drivers qualifying for the finals, sweeping the prelims in one, two, three fashion. In the evening session, the Pack finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:38.43 good for a new school record. The relay squad was comprised of Josien Wijkhuijs, Donna dePolo, Andressa Cholodovskis and Colette Berkenfield.
During the relay break, the finals for the one-meter springboard occurred. It came down to the final round of dives that determined who would visit the podium. Sophomore, Laura Isabel Vazquez Lopez took gold with a score of 315.35. She is now the seventh Nevada diver in the last eight years to win the event. It also marked a personal record for her. Freshman, Jessie Nowotny took fifth with a score of 305.65 while Linnea Sorensen finished sixth with a score of 304.55.
The night wrapped up with the 800-yard freestyle that saw the Pack take second with a time of 7:15.49. The relay was made up of dePolo, Cholodovskis, Wiktoria Samula and Caitlyn McHugh.
On Tuesday, dePolo qualified in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:31.36 when the Mountain West hosted a long course time trials qualifying times for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
