Swim and Dive trending in the right direction ahead of WAC Championships

Wednesday, February 17

St. George, Utah

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

WAC Championship (Swimming) Day 1

2/16/2021 11:19:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Head coach Lisa Ebeling and the Bears have been gearing up for this week all year long.

In a year that's featured more twists and turns than a Six Flags roller coaster, Northern Colorado Swim and Dive have navigated the season in more than formidable fashion and now arrive at the WAC Championships.

Ten duals highlighted the 2020-21 campaign with UNC winning an impressive nine of them. Its only loss came at the hands of Wyoming.

Three wins against Colorado Mesa, two versus the Colorado School of mines, two against Air Force and the first-ever dual win over Colorado State firmly planted Northern Colorado as the best program in the state of Colorado this season.

Junior Anna Austin has been a major reason for the Bears' success this year. The Arvada, Colorado native has been nothing less than dominant in the long-distance events and has been painstakingly close to personal bests in the 500 and 1,000 free. Don't count out Austin in the 200 fly either, an event she has multiple wins in this season.

Austin's efforts this year have been rewarded with two Western Conference Swimmer of the Week awards.

Fellow junior Madelyn Moore has been equally dominant in the sprints. Moore also picked up WAC Swimmer of the Week after her performance in Colorado Springs at the Air Force quad dual. Moore accounted for five of the 13 wins for UNC on the weekend and her opening 50 of the 200-yard freestyle relay of 22.77 was just .01 seconds of an NCAA "B" cut time.

The Bears have also boasted an impressive freshmen class. Katelyn Bergin and Saana Liikonen have been electric off the blocks since the season began in November and Chelaine van de Westhuizen has provided a lift since joining the squad in January. Nearly every freshman has won an indiviudal race or has been part of a relay that's touched the wall first this year.

Of course, senior Petra Kis can't be counted out when it comes to the WAC Championships. The Hungarian is the two-time defending champ in 400 IM and the current Northern Colorado record-holder.

UNC was tabbed third in the coaches poll released ahead of the WAC Championships, receiving just one first-place vote. Northern Arizona grabbed the top spot with five first-place votes.

The first of the four-day swimming championship held at Dixie State in St. George, Utah begins Wednesday, February 17, and concludes on Saturday, February 20. The Diving portion will be held at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff from February, 25-27.

The full schedule of events is below:

WAC Swimming Championships Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 17
Finals begin at 6 p.m.
200 medley relay
800 freestyle relay

Thursday, Feb. 18
Prelims begin at 11 a.m.; Finals begin at 6 p.m.
500 freestyle
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
200 free relay

Friday, Feb. 19
Prelims begin at 11 a.m.; Finals begin at 6 p.m.
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
400 medley relay

Saturday, Feb. 20
Prelims begin at 11 a.m.; Finals begin at 6 p.m.
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
1650 free
400 free relay

WAC Diving Championships Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 25
3-meter

Friday, Feb. 26
1-meter

Saturday, Feb. 27
Platform

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.