Sophomores Show Growth Out of the Gate

FORT COLLINS -- Christopher Woodard felt one of his sophomores was being dishonest with him.

One member of the class said she was scared. The other dared to say swimming the 200-yard butterfly was preferred to swimming the 100 version.

Who he felt was prevaricating was not who one might think after Friday's session of the Front Range Invitational to open the 2026-27 campaign for his Colorado State women's swimming and diving team. The Rams closed the first day in third with 302 points. Wyoming leads with 440.5, followed by Air Force at 267.5; Northern Colorado (300) and Denver round out the women's scoring.

Before the meet ever started, sophomore Gabby Hall declared not once, but twice, to her coach she was scared. To race, the meet, to start the season. She just felt that way.

Which, she says, is normal.

"I'm actually very nervous for every single swim meet but I feel like this year I really just want to be able to help the team and show that I'm here for the team," Hall said. "I was just nervous to represent the team for the first time this year again and be back racing at altitude but once I start swimming my nerves go away. It's just before I get so scared.

"Actually at home, my club coach, if I didn't tell them that I was nervous before my race he thought something was wrong."

Then there was Evie Munz, who has been practically giddy about the season ever since she came back to campus. If you asked her about practice or getting ready, she was bubbly positive about everything. She was excited about her sophomore campaign.

The repetition at practice didn't damper a thing, and with the team hosting the meet at Edora Pool Ice Center, she was positive. Nervous, but positive.

"I think just it's kind of hard training for so long and not having an opportunity to race, and I think I got a little bit antsy and just more than anything I want to race," Munz said. "I was nervous too, but I think just the excitement outweighed it for sure.

"I'm excited at the beginning of the season, but really I just tell myself I'm excited and of course I admit I'm nervous too, but I think it's just a mix of both, and it's just really fun to be with everyone again."

They finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle, then produced another top-eight finish each. Hall was third in the 100 free, while Munz was second in the 200 butterfly. Both were part of the 200 free relay which placed second to end the night, with Munz taking on the fly leg for the 400 medley quad which opened the meet with a win.

Start with Hall. She didn't seem nervous in the slightest to Woodard.

"I'm thinking Gabby Hall's a liar. If she's scared, then I'm gonna scare her at every meet because that worked out really, really well," Woodard said. "She's been putting in the work and that's obvious. I think it's been more of a mental jump.

"She's changed her practice habits, and I think she's seeing results in practice, and that's giving her confidence, but obviously there's still some timidity when it comes to the race. I think the more she swims like that, I think she's gonna gain confidence as she goes."

Hall started feeling better about things during warmups. She didn't feel like she was hitting her splits but was being told by everyone around her she was. That helped. Then her first swim led to more of a calm.

The rest of the day was feeding off what Woodard alluded to about her workouts, but also a veteran outlook about the first meet.

"I'm not really looking at the times. I'm looking at the progress I've made from last year or working on my technique because I feel like I've been doing a lot of technical stuff this year," she said. "I was just trying to maximize that in my races was really like interesting to see how it played out."

Munz just clipped her classmate in the 50 free – 24-04 to 24.05 – then closed her individual schedule with a race she worked herself into by chance.

It was at the Mountain West Championships last season when she was put into the 200 butterfly as an exhibition swim. When she touched the wall in 2:03.98, Woodard told those around him, 'I think we just found our 200 flier."

Words which would send shivers down the back of most swimmers. Not Munz.

"Honestly -- hot take -- the two-fly is easier than the hundred fly. It's just really … I like it," Munz said. "I feel like I have a lot of room to improve there and it makes me excited. I don't think many would agree with me, but I think, if anything, mentally it's an easier race. I honestly really like training for it. I like racing it. Sometimes it's really difficult and you feel the altitude but it's fun."

Hall listened to her teammate say all this and shook her head. To her, it was not so much a hot take but the wrong one. And Hall was pretty sure everybody else with Colorado State across their suit would agree with her.

"She is so wrong," Hall said. "She asked me and I was like I can't do more than a hundred so that's all you. I think that's the worst race."

But for them, a good start. As much as Woodard was curious to see how his freshmen would handle the first meet, he also turned a keen eye to the sophomore class, wondering what they brought back from learning experience of a first collegiate season. By all accounts, he was pleased.

Quinn Whorley scored points in the 500 free, as did Hadley Dodson in the 200 backstroke, Margo Hauser in the 200 breast and Monica Schmidt in the 200 fly.

"Those two responded really well to that. They did, and I think across the board with our sophomore class, I think they did well in their freshman year, but there definitely was a learning curve," Woodard said. "I don't think any of them just exploded onto the scene, and what I'm seeing now is maybe some maturity, and maybe a little bit more confidence in their racing. So, yeah, I'm excited to see what that class can do."

The freshmen added to the tally with Kayda Geyer placing second in the 200 individual medley, fourth in the 200 breast. Tavia Arnell and Alaina Biebl also placed in events.

The one individual win for the team came from Tess Whineray in the 200 back, also adding points in the 50 free. Building off her fantastic finish from the season prior, Mia Axelman was third in the 50 free, second in the 100 free. Both of them swam legs on the two relays, which as expected, looked strong.

Knowing Whineray and Geyer both had to spend time away from the pool to deal with ailments and have just recently started doing full practices, he sees those events as strengths with room to grow.

"I think that's something they're gonna have to reckon with, which is, you're not gonna show up to every pool and have all the conditions meet your needs. So I think, one, we've got to do a way better job on our exchanges, and on some of our flat starts, to be honest," he said. "We need to work on getting out in the first 15 and making sure that we've got quick exchanges. Beyond that, overall with our relays, I'm really happy, because I think we are at a point if we stay healthy we may not have a weak link, specifically in medley relay."

One diving event was competed at Air Force, with Sydney Ovesen placing fifth on the 3-meter, Riley Lee 16^th.

Saturday's final day of competition starts at 11 a.m., with two diving events (1-meter, platform) being held at the Academy.

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Players Mentioned

Tavia Arnell

Mia Axelman

Alaina Biebl

Hadley Dodson

Kayda Geyer

Gabby Hall

Margo Hauser

Riley Lee

Evie Munz

Sydney Ovesen

Monica Schmidt

Tess Whineray

Quinn Whorley