2023 MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team Scores
- San Diego State — 1,638
- UNLV — 1,103
- Wyoming — 937
- Nevada — 930
- Fresno State — 866
- Air Force — 825.5
- Colorado State — 790
- San Jose State — 632.5
- New Mexico — 316
San Diego State officially claimed their 7th Mountain West title tonight by over 500 points after an uncontested performance this week in Houston. The Aztecs also set a conference record score of 1,638 points, beating their record of 1,541.5 points from last year. UNLV moved up into second from their third place finish in 2022, with a score of 1,103 points. Nevada placed outside of the top three for the first time in over a decade, losing to Wyoming by 7 points and ending the championship meet in fourth place.
The last final night of competition got off to a quick start in the mile with 500-yard freestyle runner-up Maisyn Klimczak claiming the title in 16:20.46 and clocking the 7th fastest time in conference history. Klimczak’s winning time was 11 seconds faster than the 2022 championship winning time of 16:31.33 swum by Nevada’s Caitlyn McHugh. Colorado State’s Maya White was second in 16:27.35, also dipping under the 2022 winning time. Air Force’s Katie Andrist picked up bronze in 16:37.14.
Friday’s 100-yard backstroke champion from San Diego State, Alex Roberts, set a Mountain West Conference record in the 200-yard backstroke, winning the event in 1:52.89. Roberts’ time puts her more than a second faster than the 1:53.97 that it took to gain an invite to the 2022 NCAA Championships. Her teammate Mai McKenna touched the wall almost four seconds behind Roberts to pick up 2nd in 1:56.32. Last year’s champion, Athena Clayson of Fresno State, placed third in 1:56.90.
San Diego State picked up 1st and 2nd again in the very next event, the 100-yard freestyle. 50-yard freestyle champion Meredith Smithbaker hit the wall first in 49.05 ahead of her teammate Jeanette King who touched in 49.57. Colorado State’s Alexis Trietley was close behind, picking up third in 49.79
In the 200-yard breaststroke final, Christiana Williams, who unofficially broke the Mountain West Conference record in Wednesday night time trials, won in 2:08.86. Though her time today did not break the Mountain West record of 2:08.30, her 2:08.23 time trial should secure her an NCAA championship invite. Williams’ teammate and 200-yard IM champion Kristina Murphy picked up second place in 2:09.28, going under 2:10 for the first time in her career.
After winning the 100-yard butterfly final last night, UNLV’s Blanka Bokros set the conference record in the 200-yard butterfly today in prelims, swimming a 1:55.44. Though she went slightly slower in finals tonight — 1:55.81 — it was still enough to earn her another Mountain West title. San Diego State’s Wilma Johansson was second in 1:57.17, and Colorado State’s Amanda Hoffman was third in 1:58.14.
Nevada missed out on its first diving title of the meet with San Diego State’s Valentina Lopez Arevalo winning the platform diving event. Nevada divers did take up the rest of the podium however, with Isabel Vazquez Lopez placing second, and 2022 platform champion Melissa Mirafuentes placing third.
San Diego State finished out their sweep of all of the relays, winning the 400-yard freestyle relay and narrowly out-touching Fresno State. The difference came down to San Diego State’s Kristina Murphy splitting a 49.60 to Fresno’s Samarah Melia’s 50.16 on the third leg. This helped the Aztecs gain back some ground lost in the first half, with anchor Lindsey Wehr ultimately securing San Diego State’s win by out-splitting Fresno’s Wiktoria Dabrowska, 49.56 to 49.75. Though Nevada swam in the first and slower of the two finals heats, the Wolf Pack managed to pick up third in a time of 3:21.04, making it their third bronze medal relay of the meet.
