Women’s swimming and diving at the U.S. Air Force Academy achieved a 224-147 win against Grand Canyon University in a Mountain West dual meet held Saturday morning at Cadet Natatorium. The Falcons secured 15 first-place finishes, including diving events.
Head coach Colleen Murphy commented on the team’s performance, saying, “We had another great weekend of racing for our team. This is a special team; they work very hard, they are united as a group, and they are talented and eager to improve. We had some lifetime best swims and some new all-time top 10 performances!”
In the 1000 freestyle, Katie Andrist claimed her second gold medal of the weekend with a time of 10:26.90. Abby Miller finished second in 10:36.57, followed by Grace Nickell (10:51.27) and Zoe Bresnahan (10:51.49) in third and fourth places.
Kai-Min Tsuei won the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.52 seconds.
For the 200 individual medley, Sadie Hartig placed second at 2:05.18. Hanani Dona (2:08.27) and Addy Forbes (2:08.70) finished fourth and fifth.
Sophomore Lily Larson earned her second victory of the meet with a time of 1:50.79 in the 200 freestyle.
On the diving platform, Chloe Perkins took first place with a score of 232.90 while Kacey Hu was second with a score of 222.90.
Coach Murphy noted, “Our depth was on full display against Grand Canyon, as we had 1-2-3 finishes in multiple events.” She added, “Lily Larson continues to shine in the 100 and 200 free and Katie Andrist was untouchable in the distance events this weekend. She is carrying a lot of confidence into mid-season.”
Ryan Mills placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.77 seconds; Amber Martin followed closely in third at 23.84 seconds.
In the women’s 200 butterfly, Jena Nowoswiat was runner-up at 2:03.59 while Natalie Doig (2:06.76), Hannah Le (2:07.97), and Kat Putchinski (2:09.65) finished third through fifth.
In breaststroke competition, Naomi Furman took second place in the 100 breaststroke at 1:04.04; Reagan Kampschror (1:05.58) was third and Maeve Linscott (1:05.73) finished fourth.
The Air Force diving team will next compete against Army at West Point on November 7 and November 8 at 8 a.m., Mountain Time.
