Caleb Burggraaf
Sports Reporter

The Mesa State men’s and women’s swim teams opened up their 2010–2011 season with the fifth annual Maroon and Black Pentathlon on Friday afternoon at El Pomar Natatorium. Both teams swam well with especially good performances from a few particular swimmers.
On the women’s side, Katie Wedel gave a dominant performance. She won three races and finished in the top 10 in all five.
On the men’s side, Alejandro Hernandez won the overall competition, but was pressured by Kent Stavrackis throughout the entire pentathlon for the best time, with both swimmers putting out top 10 performances multiple times.
The winners were excited about the prospects of this year’s team.
“Everybody likes to work hard,” Hernandez said. “It keeps people pushing it up in practice and it’s going to show up in the meets.”
The men were picked to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in only their second season of competition.
The women’s team, picked to finish third in the RMAC this year, is also looking good.
“We’ve got a lot of fast kids this year and a lot of people that are here to work hard,” Wedel said.
The women, while building off of a top 25 finish last year, will have to contend with Division II powerhouses Incarnate Word and Grand Canyon University to win the RMAC this year.
Coach Brian Pearson was especially excited about the early results of his team.
“I think if we published our time and showed how fast we went in early season it would turn a lot of heads nationally,” Pearson said.
The low times have Pearson thinking that at least eight of the men’s swimmers and divers have a good chance at making nationals along with four from the women’s team.
Up next, both teams will head to Alamosa to take on teams from Colorado School of Mines and Adams State this Saturday.