by Cache Legault
For the Colorado Mesa University men’s and women’s swim and dive team the RMAC Championship was a culmination of multiple seasons and countless hours. From individual accomplishments to the commanding men’s team win over their RMAC competitors.
CMU scored 987.5 points to take the peak of the podium with California Baptist University at 955 points in second and Oklahoma Baptist University pulling up in third. For the women’s team the Lady Mavericks got second place with 796 points, behind California Baptist University’s 1,067 points.
This is the first CMU Swimming RMAC Championship win since 2014. Due in part to their head coach, Geoff Hanson, who was named RMAC Men’s Coach of the Year. Another Maverick winning MVP caliber honors is distance swimmer, Sam Bryant.
Bryant won RMAC Swimmer of the Meet for his record-breaking performances in the 1,650 yard freestyle (15:36.68), 1,000 yard freestyle (9:14.17) and winning the 500 free and 400 individual medley. Bryant also won RMAC Swimmer of the Year which is his eighth RMAC title in addition to his reputation Bryant has still not lost an RMAC individual final in his career. Hanson, Sam Bryant and Mary Saiz will lead CMU to the NCAA Div. II Swimming and Diving Championships in Birmingham, Ala. March 8-11.
This week saw many spectacular performances from all over CMU’s roster. Freshman diver Brittany Dixon took second in the one-meter dive and fourth in the three-meter finals with underclassmen teammates Cassie Blakeman and Kelsey Vreeman taking third and fifth respectively in the one-meter showing off a plethora of majestic twists, spins and flips. As well as a second-place finish from RMAC Diver of the Year Cassie Blakeman and a fifth place finish from Kelsey Vreeman on the three-meter board.
The men’s diving team also did well with freshman Noah Macomber taking first in the three-meter dive and fourth on the one-meter. Junior teammate Sage D’Ambrosia finished third on the one-meter and fifth on the three-meter board.
Senior swimmer Mary Saiz remains the 200 backstroke RMAC Champion with a time of 2:00.78. Mary is looking forward to winning a national title in Birmingham in March currently seeded second in the 200 back, but appreciates that the RMACs were at home this year. Allowing her to relax in between events, different from her PAC-12 days with the University of Utah competing against Olympians. Mary is a mainstay of the women’s relays participating in the 200 free and 400 medley events citing the team aspect and the atmosphere of those races where teammates push each other to do their best, where as individual events although count for the team and are competitive races are less dependent on teammates and therefore lose that je ne sais quoi of relays.
For more RMAC Men’s and Women’s Championship results check out RMACsports.org/tournaments. Colorado Mesa will compete at the NCAA Div. II Swimming and Diving Championships in Birmingham, Ala. March 8-11.
The meet is March 8th-11th! Great article