@UNCOSwim_Dive earns third at Omaha Invite

Thursday, December 1

Omaha, Neb.

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

Omaha Invite

12/3/2016 7:11:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

MEET RESULTS

Omaha, Neb – After three days of competition in Omaha, Northern Colorado solidified third place in the Mutual of Omaha Invite. The University of Northern Iowa came away victorious with 1049 points, Nebraska Omaha finished second with 721 and the Bears, scoring 389, edged out Nebraska Kearney who finished with 124.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Strong swims from Laura Ramirez and Valeria Mihhailova as well as another solid diving performance had left the Bears in strong third place position. The third and final day of competition opened the door for more improvement and momentum to lead UNC into the second half of their season.

Saturday commenced with the 800-yard freestyle relay, an event UNC hadn't seen since the last time they faced the mavericks. The team comprised of Carleigh Barrett, Jennifer Brown, Valeria Mihhailova and Sydney Kovar touched the wall in fourth place in the long-distance relay.

The Bears would earn another fourth place finish from Kovar several events later, in the finals of the 1650-yard freestyle. Both Kovar and Carleigh Barrett rushed to the finish with sub-18 minute times.

Valeria Mihhailova slimly missed the finals of the 200-yard backstroke by less than half a second, only a day after placing second in the 100-yard version of the same discipline. Mihhailova inevitably ran away with the B final, finishing at 2:07.64.

Riding momentum of Mihhailova's success, Courtney Chrzas wiggled her way into the finals of the 200-breaststoke. Chrza, impressively, touched the wall in fourth, swimming a full two seconds faster than her preliminary time.

The afternoon was highlighted by Laura Ramirez, who with a time of 2:07.79 in the 200-yard butterfly, earned the first victory of the meet for the Bears.

BEST PERFORMANCE
Laura Ramirez – Came away with UNC's only win of the meet throughout the three days of competition in the 200-yard butterfly.

IN THEIR WORDS
Head Coach, Lisa Ebeling
"We took a huge step forward this weekend in both the technical aspects of our race strategies and in our team unity. Even though we were competing against teams that were almost twice our size, the girls were able to stay focused, swim their own races and make adjustments throughout the weekend that led to some major improvements. We are in a great pace headed into the second half of our season."

UP NEXT
Northern Colorado won't see competitive action in the pool until January 14, in a meet at the Air Force Academy. They'll be back at Butler-Hancock Pool for Senior Day when they host Nebraska Kearney and CSU Pueblo.