Moore resets record book as Swim and Dive finishes second at Mid-Season Invite

Saturday, November 20

St. George, UT

University of Northern Colorado

Mid Season Invitational Day 3

11/21/2021 5:40:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

FINAL RESULTS

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Northern Colorado Swim and Dive is now halfway through its season and shows no signs of slowing down.

UNC finished off the Mid-Season Invitational at Dixie State with a whopping 592 points to finish second.

Not only did the Bears knock off WAC opponents in New Mexico State and Dixie State, the Blue and Gold also took down talented teams in UC Santa Barbara, BYU, California Baptist, UC Davis and Pepperdine.

Saturday night began with long-distance standout Anna Austin in the 1650 free. Her time of 17:07.50 goes down as the top time in the Western Athletic Conference this season.

Natalie Kayfes also took her turn at the event, hitting the wall at 17:44.50.

Paula Nunez Blazquez didn't waste a single event throughout the three days in Utah. In the 200 back, she hit the wall at 2:01.64 for yet another top time in the conference.

Freshman Hannah Kingscote found her form to get into the 'A' final after swimming a 2:03.50 in the 200 back and ultimately finished eighth with a 2:06.40.

In the 100 free, senior Madelyn Moore took center stage. Shattering another school record, Moore beat everyone to the wall with a 49.17, good enough for a second NCAA 'B' cut.

Across her three days in St. George, the Sandys, Bermuda native broke four school records and leaves with a strong chance at becoming Northern Colorado's first NCAA qualifier in program history.

Not too far behind, Saana Liikonen hovered right around the 51-second mark all day. Her final time of 51.43 gave Liikonen eighth place in the sprint.

Chelaine van der Westhuizen has been finding new gear after new gear since arriving on campus last season. The South African native swam nearly two seconds faster than her prelim time in the 200 breast at 2:16.73, securing second place and the fastest time in the WAC by nearly five seconds.

Freshman Bryanna Ungs narrowly missed out on the 'A' final but swam a solid 2:20.02 to finish 10^th overall.

Payten Irwin already owned the fastest time in the WAC in the 200 fly but was hell-bent on beating in Saturday evening in the finals. Her time of 2:02.88 makes Irwin the 10^th best performer in program history.

Meanwhile, Kately Bergin hit the wall just behind Irwin at 2:02.98 to finish fifth, grabbing a hefty amount of points at a crucial stage for the Bears.

Ali Jackson, Giulia Pavanello, Saana Liikonen and Madelyn Moore cranked up the heat for the final relay of the meet. With a 3:23.55 in the 400 free relay, the four finished second only to UC San Diego and are beginning to zero in on a school record.

Madison Berg was back in the diving well on Saturday and turned in another sturdy performance. The freshman scored 226.60 in the prelims and secured a 206.65 to finish fifth in the 3 meter.

All totaled, head coach Lisa Ebeling and crew return to Greeley with 51 lifetime best performances, 28 top-10 swims in program history, 14 NIC qualifiers, five schools records and two NCAA B cuts.

DECK TALK
Head coach, Lisa Ebeling
"I couldn't be happier with the performances at our mid-season meet. We are continuing to rewrite the record boards and now we know exactly what we need to do to accomplish our goals at the end of the season. We have an incredibly resilient group of women and I'm honored to have the opportunity to share in their success. I am most proud of the fact that every athlete on our team played a key role in our accomplishments this weekend. We are excited to get back to work and looking forward to big things ahead."

What's next
The next time fans will see Northern Colorado Swim and Dive will be in January when UNC visits Air Force for a tri-meet with Utah Tech. The Bears are back at Butler Hancock Pool on January 29, against Colorado State.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Swim and Dive, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.