2018 Mountain West Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

Boise State Rallies On Day Two, Retakes MW Championships Lead

It took all five events but Boise State rallied on the second day of to retake the lead at the MW Championships after finishing day one in fourth place.

Feb 16, 2018 by Kolby Paxton

Boise State Rallies On Day Two, Retakes MW Championships Lead

By Ben Colin

The Boise State women's swimming and diving team left Wednesday's opening session of the Mountain West Championships in San Antonio in fourth place, despite winning one of the night's three events, the 200 medley relay.

On Thursday, it took all five events for the Broncos to climb back into the day two lead with 491 points, edging past San Diego State (451.5) and Nevada (433) after winning the 50 freestyle.

Boise State coach Jeremy Kipp said the meet would likely see multiple leaders before a champion was crowned. So far, there have been three different teams atop the standings.

Watch the 2018 MW Championships LIVE on FloSwimming

The Broncos led the 200 freestyle relay start to finish, winning with an NCAA provisional standard time of 1:29.39. The team of Abbey Sorensen, Emmie Jennings, Robin Pinger, and Ally Kleinsorgen defeated San Diego State by over a second.

Boise State's relay included four of the six fastest swims, including Sorensen’s 22.37 split, which was 0.7 of a second faster than her prelims time in the open 50 freestyle. Wyoming’s Isobel Ryan recorded the fastest split at 22.21, just ahead of Kleinsorgen’s 22.23.

Air Force, Nevada, San Jose State, and Wyoming were only separated by 0.21 between fourth and seventh place. New Mexico was disqualified after swimming a 1:31.27, a time that would’ve placed third.

Boise State senior Emma Chard won the 500 freestyle by splitting 1.7 seconds faster on the back half of the race to go a 4:43.04. The negative split allowed Chard to move from third to first over the last half of the race.

She trailed San Diego State’s McKenna Meyer and Colorado State’s Haley Rowley by over a second at the halfway mark. Those two held on to finish second and third, respectively. Chard made her move to the front with a 27.91 split on the race's sixth 50. It was over a 1.5-second improvement from her previous lap.

The final of three Broncos wins on night two was Sorenson in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.53. Even in the win, she was 0.09 slower than her morning swim. Ryan, who came second, swam a 22.79 after splitting faster on the relay that opened the night.

Boise State placed three swimmers in the championship final, picking up a whopping 82 points toward the team race. Kleinsorgen finished fourth and Jennings sixth. San Diego State freshman Klara Thormalm came in third with a 22.80.

Two of five events were won by someone other than a BSU athlete, the first of those being diving. Nevada’s Sharae Zheng picked up her second win on the boards in as many days. In a conference record of 424.53, Zheng dominated the 3-meter competition. She won by over 84 points and moves one step closer to sweeping the diving events for a second time.

The other event, the 200 IM, went to San Diego State senior Frida Berggren. Winning with a 1:59.28, she finished 0.12 ahead of Nevada’s Andressa Cholodovskis Lima. Berggren had to come from behind on the freestyle leg to pick up the win.

Day three finals will begin at 6:30 PM (CST) and can be seen on FloSwimming.

Top 5 Individual Performances

Sharae Zheng, Nevada — 3-Meter Diving (424.53)
Abbey Sorenson, Boise State — 50 Free (22.53)
Emma Chard, Boise State — 500 Free (4:43.04)
Frida Berggren, San Diego State — 200 IM (1:59.28)
Mckenna Meyer, San Diego State — 500 Free (4:44.71)

Team Scores

Boise State - 491, San Diego State - 451.5, Nevada - 433, Wyoming - 383, San Jose State - 262, UNLV - 255, Air Force - 250, Colorado State - 242, New Mexico - 237.5, Fresno State - 235

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