Cowgirls Close Out the 2025 Mountain West Conference Championships on a High Note

Hansen Smashes School Record on the Way to Her Second MW Title, Named Co-Freshman of the Meet

HOUSTON, Texas (2/22/25) – The University of Wyoming women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the 2025 Mountain West Conference Championships on Saturday evening inside the CRWC Natatorium at the University of Houston. 

The Cowgirls ended this year’s Championships in sixth place with 856 points. The program earned two individual MW titles, received a Co-Freshman of the Meet recognition from the Mountain West, had an additional podium finish, set multiple school records and logged numerous personal bests.

Head coach Dave Denniston was extremely pleased with how his team performed in this year’s conference championships.

“We had a lot of great highlights in Houston,” Denniston said. “Obviously, Macey is a superstar freshman who shattered two pool records and will qualify for NCAAs. Brynlee also had a great meet breaking the team record in the 100 breaststroke! All our seniors had great meets and have built and created a team culture that will propel our program to more great achievements. We all had a lot of fun this week and swam fast. I also think the divers performed brilliantly, earning spots in the finals and throwing big scores really kept our team fired up.

What can’t Macey Hansen do? The freshman sensation completely smashed the school record in the 1650-yard freestyle by nearly thirteen seconds, logging a time of 16:07.75, on the way to winning her second MW Championship title this year. Hansen was also named Co-Freshman of the Meet. Also in the 1650-yard freestyle, Maisyn Klimczak finished 14th with a time of 16:56.59.

Kayla Cunningham qualified for her third consecutive A final of this year’s championships, this time in the 200-yard backstroke. The senior finished sixth, swimming a 1:58.56. In the C final, Sydney Metzler and Tessa Bendokas went two and three, logging times of 1:59.58 and 1:59.84.

Tara Joyce finished eighth in the A final of the 100-yard freestyle, logging a time of 49.71. In the B final, Rachael Horne finished in fourth with a time of 49.91. Kali Franckowiak finished eighth in the C final, swimming a 50.95.

Brynlee Busskohl took fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke A final, logging a time of 2:12.52. In the C final, Taylor Craft came in fourth place off a time of 2:18.29.

Ellie Fritscher was the sole Cowgirl to advance to the finals of the 200-yard butterfly, finishing seventh in the A final with a career-best time of 2:01.58.

Gabby Haigler qualified for platform diving finals, finishing in sixth with a score of 264.60. Alicia Gonzalez competed in the consolation finals, scoring a 203.05 and finishing in eighth.

In the final event of the 2025 Mountain West Conference Championships, the Cowgirl 400-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Horne, Joyce, Swartz and Franckowiak took fifth off a collective time of 3:20.34.

Wyoming men’s swim and dive head to the WAC Championships next week starting Wednesday, also inside the CRWC Natatorium at the University of Houston.

Day Three Recap

The Cowgirl 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprising of Horne, Swartz, Moore and Joyce, finished in fifth with a time of 1:31.00.

In the 100-yard butterfly, Franckowiak finished in 16th with a time of 54.97, while Bendokas came in 54.98 to finish 20th.

Cunningham turned in a seventh-place performance in the 400-yard IM off a time of 4:19.09 while Ford came in 21st, logging a time of 4:26.95.

Joyce had a fourth-place performance in the 200-yard freestyle, swimming a 1:46.35. Franckowiak came in 13th off a time of 1:49.64. Hansen and True finished 18th and 19th, going 1:49.48 and 1:50.03 respectively.

Busskohl set a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke earlier that day in the preliminaries with a time of 59.57. In the finals she finished fourth, logging a time of 59.93. Craft came in 15th with a time of 1:02.58. Horne had a career-best time of 1:01.55, coming in _17th and earning herself the number eight spot on the UW top ten record books. Swartz finished in 20th with a time of 1:02.86.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Metzler finished 18th, logging a time of 55.08. Bendokas came in 22nd off a time of 56.57 while Klimczak finished in 24th with a time of 57.66.

Day Two Recap

Hansen became the first Cowgirl to claim an individual Mountain West title this year in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.56, while also breaking a school record she had set earlier that morning in the preliminaries. Klimczak finished in 16th place with a time of 5:01.53. Fritscher came in 23rd, going 5:02.82.

Cunningham finished sixth in the 200-yard IM with a career-best time of 2:00.50. Metzler came in 17th off a time of 2:02.53. Busskohl finished 23rd, logging a 2:05.98.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Joyce finished ninth off a time of 22.75. Horne finished eleventh, logging a 22.95. Moore came in 22nd with a time of 23.29. Swartz finished in 24th with a time of 23.45.

On the 3-meter springboard, Haigler came in seventh with a score of 286.65 while Natalie Six finished eighth with a score of 277.55.

The Cowgirls tied with CSU for sixth in the 400-yard medley relay, with Metzler, Busskohl, Franckowiak and Joyce combining for a time of 3:42.27.

Day One Recap

Gonzalez was the first Cowgirl to reach the podium after she took third in the 1-meter springboard with a score of 308.30. Haigler finished ninth with a score of 289.50 while Six came in 16th with a score of 239.05.

The Cowgirls finished seventh in the 200-yard medley relay, with Metzler, Horne, Franckowiak and Moore swimming a collective 1:40.28.

In the final event of the day, Wyoming took fifth in the 800-yard freestyle relay, entailing of Joyce, Avery True, Klimczak and Franckowiak logging a 7:15.94.