By Emma Foster, Swimming World College Intern
The Mountain West Conference Championship, set to take off tomorrow afternoon, is sure to be an exciting one with several teams posed to duel out who will take home the championship. San Diego State enters the meet as the defending champion, winning their second title in four years last year when they upstaged Boise State last year. However, Boise will be sure to be interested in taking the title back for themselves after winning in 2012 and 2014. Another top contender will be Nevada, who has taken the third spot for the last two years.
Relays will be an important indicator of who will be taking home the title this year, and with Boise posting four top relay times, in the 400 and 800 freestyle relay and the 200 and 400 medley relay, they look to do some damage. San Diego claims the the remaining 200 free relay with the top time, seeded one second ahead of second placed Boise.
On the individual side, the sprint freestyle events appear to be deep this year, with San Diego seniors Taylor Johnson and Savannah Miller leading the group of six and four athletes to hold NCAA B-Cuts so far this year in the 50 and 100 freestyles respectively.
On the distance side of things, Air Force junior Genevieve Miller continues to be dominant, boasting NCAA B-cuts and top times in the 500 free and 1650 free.
In the 400 IM, San Diego State freshman Rachael Kelch boasts the only NCAA B-cut in the event so far. However, Nevada Senior Yawen Li who had a dominant season last year is just behind and will certainly be interested in making it an exciting race.
Boise State Senior Samantha Wicks leads the field of three women with NCAA B-cuts in the 100 backstroke, posting a time of 53.53. She is followed by Ugne Mazutaityte (54.04) of Fresno State and Colleen Hummel (54.27) of San Jose State.
On the diving side of things, Krysta Palmer, a Nevada Senior, holds the top seeds in the 1-mtr, 3-mtr, and the platform events.
The Mountain West championship, taking place at the Texas A&M Natatorium will take off tomorrow with the 1-meter springboard prelims and will run through Saturday.
