PREVIEW: Quick Instances, High Scores Await Mines Out West

By: Sam Boender

M/W Swimming & Diving a the TYR/CMU Invitational – Wednesday-Saturday – Grand Junction, Colo. [Live Results] [RMAC Network]

Wednesday, 6 p.m. Timed Finals

Thursday, 10 a.m. Prelims / 12 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Finals

Friday, 10 a.m. Prelims / 12 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Finals

Saturday, 10 a.m. Prelims / 4 p.m. Finals

Saturday, 12 p.m. TYR/CMU Diving Invite

MIDSEASON INVITE

The Colorado School of Mines males’s and ladies’s swimming & diving groups are recent and raring to go after practically three weeks of coaching and tapering away from competitors. That onerous work shall be put to make use of this week because the Orediggers head to the TYR/CMU Invitational hosted by Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo. It marks Mines’ annual midyear occasion the place the women and men chase program information and NCAA-qualifying occasions, and 2025 is the Orediggers’ 14th journey to the invite which has modified names over time. Wednesday night kicks off 4 days and 9 periods of swimming and diving competitors with an additional diving meet thrown in as nicely, referred to by some as a swim-and-dive-palooza.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All 4 days and 9 periods of competitors, together with Saturday’s diving invite will stream on the RMAC Network which has varied subscription choices. There will even be two completely different choices for stay outcomes together with MeetCell (subscription required) and free HY-TEK stay outcomes linked HERE and above.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
This fall, the RMAC Network moved to a pay-per-view mannequin for all occasions. Fans should purchase month-to-month and annual subscriptions that may present them entry to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A month-to-month subscription prices $25, and an annual subscription prices $130. Single-game passes can be found for $10, which grants entry to a single sport for twenty-four hours. For technical assist questions, followers can contact Hudl Support or e-mail the RMAC instantly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
THE FORMAT
This week’s TYR/CMU Invitational shall be competed and scored in a championship format. Action begins Wednesday night time at 6 p.m. with three timed finals within the 200-medley relay, 1000-free, and 800-freestyle relay. The following three days will characteristic preliminary races within the morning beginning at 10 a.m., diving at 12 p.m., and swimming finals within the night at 5 p.m. The finals for 3-meter diving will even happen within the night, however 1-meter motion could have prelims and finals throughout the identical session. Saturday’s finals will go off at 4 p.m. after the completion of the distinctly separate diving twin between Mines and Mesa’s males. All relays, the 1000-free, and the 1650-free are timed finals with no prelims.
 
HOW TO SCORE
In order to attain for his or her crew, particular person swimmers should advance to the night finals. The prime eight from prelims will swim in an “A” ultimate. The subsequent eight will race in a “B” ultimate. Point values from first place to sixteenth place are 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for particular person races. Relays additionally rating 1-16 with values of 40-34-32-30-28-26-24-22-18-14-12-10-8-6-4-2. For diving, people will full 11 dives throughout prelims. Six of these dives are categorised as optionally available and the opposite 5 are voluntary. Without a important mass of divers, all who full the 11 dives advance to finals. There, the rivals repeat the six dives categorised as optionally available. Judges scores decide the ultimate putting with factors values for crew scoring awarded in the identical denominations as swimming.
 
RACE SCHEDULE
Wednesday’s schedule was already referenced. It options one night session at 6 p.m. which incorporates timed finals of the 200-medley relay, 1000-free, and 800-freestyle relay. Thursday’s slate options the 500-free, 200-IM, 50-free, and 200-freestyle relay with males’s 1-meter (11 dives) diving. Friday brings on the 100-fly, 400-IM, 200-free, 100-breast, 100-back, 400-medley relay, and males’s 3-meter (11 dives) motion. On the final day of swimming, followers will see the 200-back, 100-free, 200-breast, 200-fly, 1650-free, and 400-freestyle relay. Saturday’s diving competitors shall be a 3-meter occasion with 11 dives.
 
GUEST LIST
This 12 months’s TYR/CMU Invitational is comparatively mild in attendees. Mines and Colorado Mesa are going head-to-head on the lads’s facet. Northern Arizona (NCAA Division I) is becoming a member of the Orediggers and Mavericks in girls’s motion. And that is it. That’s the visitor listing.
 
SEASON UPDATE
Mines informally began its 2025-26 marketing campaign with its annual Alumni Meet throughout Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 4. A mixed males’s and ladies’s twin on Oct. 10 on the Mines Natatorium marked the Orediggers’ official begin to the season. Mines’ women and men swept previous ASU on Friday and Saturday with the ladies including a win over CSU Pueblo in Saturday’s tri-meet. The Orediggers additionally took twin victories off Colorado College on Oct. 24. The males pushed Colorado Mesa to the restrict on Oct. 25, however fell, 132-109. Mines’ final motion was on the University of Wyoming the place the lads went head-to-head with the Cowboys and the ladies had a tri-meet with Wyoming and Northern Colorado. To date, the Oredigger males have a 3-2 report in twin meets and the ladies are 4-2. Also notable was Vladislav Kazakin’s RMAC Swimmer of the Week award after his performances in opposition to Colorado College and Colorado mesa.
 
PROGRAM RECORDS
The Oct. 24 twin in opposition to Colorado College yielded a number of program information for the Orediggers. The first to strike for Mines was Bruno Albertoni in his first-ever collegiate diving occasion. It was additionally the primary time an Oredigger competed in diving in over a decade. The true freshman hit a stellar sequence within the 1-meter (6 dives) occasion and posted a rating of 320.40. The tally was adequate for first place and toppled the earlier program report held by nationwide champion Richard Williamson. The rating additionally met the NCAA qualifying customary. After Albertoni’s report, fellow true freshman Mikaela Khan broke out within the 200-fly. She received the occasion in 2:05.87 and took down teammate Savannah Karas’ earlier report – each adjusted for altitude and unadjusted. Khan’s time additionally went below the NCAA “B” qualifying customary.
 
FACILITY RECORDS
So far this season, 4 completely different Mines Natatorium information have been damaged 5 occasions. The first pool report to fall was the 500-free by the hands of Vladislav Kazakin. He posted a low 4:40 time on the primary official weekend of racing. Then, final Saturday, he broke his personal report once more after swimming 4:39.48 to win the 500-free in opposition to Colorado Mesa. Ava LaBrose did her injury to the report wall final Friday in opposition to Colorado College when she took down Mia Wood’s natatorium report within the 200-free. LaBrose stopped the clock at 1:53.62. Finally, in a while Saturday, Colorado Mesa’s males put their identify on the pool’s 200-breast and 400-IM information.
 
NCAA QUALIFYING
Most Oredigger swim followers know that Mines would not acquire a majority of its NCAA qualifying occasions till this week on the TYR/CMU Invitational at Colorado Mesa or on the convention championships. This 12 months is completely different. In simply two weekends of racing, three completely different girls have posted NCAA “B” occasions and one man touts a NCAA customary as nicely. Against Colorado College, Anna Bream churned out a “B” reduce within the 400-IM. Khan’s record-breaking 200-fly was a NCAA time as nicely. LaBrose rounded out the trio of NCAA qualifying together with her 200-free efficiency. Unlike swimming, assembly the diving qualifying customary can occur virtually anytime. That’s what occurred with Bruno Albertoni in his first two collegiate appearances. His report rating in opposition to Colorado College and a bronze-medal rating in opposition to Colorado Mesa each met the 1-meter NCAA customary. He’ll now have the possibility to go to nationwide qualifying the day earlier than the beginning of the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships to punch his ultimate ticket to the massive meet.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The second version of the Division II Top 25 Dual Meet Rankings for 2025-26 was launched earlier this month by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches’ Association of America (CSCAA). Mines’ girls remained at #18 and the lads acquired votes after debuting at #24 in October. Drury’s males remained #1 whereas Nova Southeastern’s girls rose to their prime spot. Other RMAC squads on the lads’s listing included #6 Colorado Mesa and #22 Simon Fraser with Oklahoma Christian receiving votes. Conference groups within the girls’s rankings have been #5 Colorado Mesa, #17 Simon Fraser, and #25 Oklahoma Christian. The polls are voted on by a committee consisting of Division II coaches and is supposed to replicate the highest twin meet groups in all of NCAA Division II. The nationwide rankings should not meant to foretell the highest finishers in a championship meet format.
 
DIVING RETURNS
Earlier this fall, Mines introduced the return of males’s and ladies’s NCAA Division II diving beginning this season. Katherine Andrie will coach and look to regrow this system within the coming years. The historical past of Mines diving consists of 12 all-Americans, a person nationwide champion, one of many first girls in Mines Athletics, and a number of members of the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame. A number of of these corridor of fame members embrace NCAA Division II National Champion Rick Williamson, former head coach Bob McCandless, the 1983 Women’s Swimming & Diving crew, and the Men’s Swimming & Diving groups from 1981-84. That wealthy historical past threads completely with the present objectives of this system and the division.
 
HOW DIVING WORKS
In full disclosure, the creator has solely not too long ago realized the fundamentals of aggressive diving. Fans ought to notice there are quite a few nuances past what’s laid out under. In faculty diving, there are two primary kinds of diving competitions – six dive competitions and 11 dive competitions. In these occasions, divers both carry out six dives or 11 dives to gather a complete rating decided by the judges. The very primary kinds of dives embrace ahead, again, reverse, inward, and twisting. Those phrases confer with how the competitor begins their dive. After figuring out how the dive begins, there are additionally somersaults, or rotations. Along with somersaults and rotations, there may be the place. The place could possibly be straight, pike, tuck, or free. The later typically consists of a number of positions. All of these issues are introduced earlier than the dive by means of a sequence of numbers together with a letter to make clear straight, pike, tuck, or free. In six dive competitions, all dives are optionally available and could be picked by the competitor. In 11 dive codecs, there are six optionally available dives and 5 voluntary, or designated, dives  Also, every thing talked about above can occur on a one meter board or a 3 meter board. Mines doesn’t have platform diving. And with that, the creator has exhausted his understanding of diving. Good luck.
 
STAFF UPDATES
Mines Head Coach Claire McDaniel bolstered her swimming & diving workers throughout the offseason. The newcomers embrace Katherine Andrie, Nate Rock, Brad Shannon, and Graham Walker. Andrie, as beforehand launched, will function the lads’s and ladies’s diving coach. Shannon arrives at Colorado School of Mines as McDaniel’s prime assistant. Rock and Walker each competed as student-athletes for McDaniel on the University of Denver and have since gained teaching expertise across the metropolitan space. The quartet joins veteran Oredigger assistants Andy Foley and Colin Fenster.
 
MEET KATHERINE ANDRIE

As referenced above, Coach Andrie will function the lead woman for the Mines diving groups. She joins the workers with each a formidable résumé as a diving coach, and a private familiarity with Colorado School of Mines. Two of her kids, Marty and Carlie, attended Mines and competed for the Orediggers. Marty was a nine-time all-American in cross nation and monitor & discipline and a member of the 2015 Men’s Cross Country crew which received the NCAA Division II Championship. That crew was inducted into the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame in 2023. Carlie competed in triathlon and for the membership water polo crew throughout her time at Mines. On deck, Coach Andrie boasts a number of a long time of highschool and membership teaching expertise with stops at quite a few excessive faculties within the Denver space together with Valor Christian, Littleton, Douglas County, Smoky Hill, and extra. She was named East Metro Diving Coach of the Year in 2011 and CHSAA 4A Dive Coach of the Year in 2018.
 
MEET BRAD SHANNON
Shannon arrived in Golden, Colo., over the summer season following two years as the top man at William Peace University in North Carolina. He and his workers earned 2024-25 Independent South Swimming Conference Men’s Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding WPU’s males to second-place end on the convention meet whereas the ladies took crew bronze. The Pacer’s 2023-24 squads mixed for six gold medals on the ISSC meet and broke 9 program information. Prior to William Peace, Shannon was an assistant on the University of Rochester from 2019-23. Additional skilled expertise consists of work as a counselor at each the University of Florida and N.C. State swim camps. Collegiately, Shannon competed at Ohio State University and earned Ohio State and Big Ten Scholar Athlete distinction all 4 years. He was a USA Swimming Olympic Trial Qualifier in 2016 as nicely. He owns a bachelor’s diploma in worldwide research with a specialization in safety and intelligence from OSU. Shannon earned his grasp’s diploma from Concordia Chicago in utilized train science. Fans can learn extra about Shannon’s accomplishments in his on-line bio.
 
MEET GRAHAM WALKER
Walker joins the Oredigger workers following an elite newbie and collegiate swimming profession. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Walker represented Team Kenya at each the All-Africa Games and the Commonwealth Games. He went on to compete for the University of Denver below coach McDaniel. His high-level efficiency within the pool additionally led to serving as crew captain his ultimate two years with the Pioneers. Walker’s coach profession began whereas he was nonetheless in faculty, educating swimming classes, and continued after commencement. He finally accepted a proper teaching function with the University of Denver Hilltoppers Swim Club in 2022. Since then, Walker coached a number of state champions and program report holders. He returned to DU as an assistant coach in 2024 and helped oversee convention titles and continued aggressive success. Fans also can discover his bio on-line.
 
MEET NATE ROCK
Rock, like Walker, competed collegiately for the Pioneers after graduating from Boulder High School. Rock represented DU from 2017-20, and took on teaching obligations in 2021. He scored crew factors for the Pioneers on the 2019 Summit League Championships, ending fifth within the 500-free and sixth within the 200-back. He did the identical once more in 2020 and added a fourth-place end within the 1650-free. In addition to his teaching expertise at DU, Rock additionally served because the coach at Boulder High School and is in his second 12 months guiding the University of Colorado membership swim crew. His bio could be discovered on-line on the Mines Athletics homepage.
 
AT THE HELM
Colorado School of Mines Swimming Head Coach Claire McDaniel is in her seventh season on the helm for the Oredigger women and men. McDaniel received her fourth RMAC Coach of the Year on the lads’s facet after guiding the Orediggers to crew silver on the 2024-25 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships. She additionally owns three RMAC Coach of the Year awards on the ladies’s facet. Through six seasons, McDaniel has coached 5 RMAC Swimmers of the Year, 4 RMAC Freshmen of the Year, and 27 all-American performances together with 23 particular person occasions and 4 relays.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will take time without work over the vacations and return to motion within the new 12 months at Denver on Jan. 2. A full preview and stay protection shall be accessible the day earlier than at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can sustain with Mines swimming on “X” (previously Twitter), Facebook and Instagram at @MinesSwimming. They also can sustain with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all 12 months lengthy on Facebook, “X” and Instagram utilizing the deal with @MinesAthletics.