Swimming Concludes Action in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – The University of Wyoming swimming and diving teams had a solid afternoon in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Cowgirls downed UNLV, 222-78, before falling to Nevada, 161-139 in a double dual, as the Pokes came out on top against the Rebels by a score of 174-119. In the last regular season swimming events, UW claimed 17 victories in Buchanan Natatorium.
“We had an unbelievable meet this afternoon,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “The diving events actually went before all the swimming events, but our 200 relay teams did a great job of competing and put us in a great spot to begin with.”
Wyoming was able to get off to a great start as it won both the men’s and women’s 200 medley relays. Emily Stevens, Maria Harutjunjan, Molly Coonce and Emily Ridout brought home the first victory of the day for UW with a time of 1:42.30. The Pokes won with a mark of 1:30.46, as a tandem of Austin Layman, Gabe Rooker, George Eglesfield and Bryce Carter touched the wall first.
Eric Oleson won the fourth event of the dual in the 1000 free. His time of 9:32.85 was just ahead of fellow Cowboy Kyle Moore, who took second with a mark of 9:42.84. Jack Herron (1:38.79) then went on to win the 200 free, as Slade Sheaffer (1:40.51) took second. Abby Sullivan brought home the first win of the day for the Cowgirls in the 100 back. She finished with a time of 55.50. Sullivan also claimed victory in the 200 back (2:00.43).
“We had many personal best’s today, which was great to see. Unfortunately on both sides we had a few events get away from us but overall I thought we showed improvement from the Arizona State meet and I liked how they raced today. I hope we continue to work tremendously hard during practice while we prepare for the conference championships.” – UW Head Coach Tom Johnson.
Harutjunjan continued to tear through competition in the breast events. She won both the 100 and 200 events with times of 1:03.07 and 2:16.13, respectively. Gabe Rooker also continued to impress in the breast events on the men’s side. Rooker swept each event against the Rebels. He had a final of 54.49 in the 100 breast and a 1:59.53 in the 200 for the Pokes.
Ridout brought in major points for the Cowgirls by winning the 50 and 100 free. She had times of 22.87 and 50.61. Ryan Ball won the 200 back for the Pokes with a mark of 1:49.08, while Eric Oleson (4:33.74) brought home another victory in the 500 free. Wyoming swept the 100 fly events, as Coonce (54.83) and Eglesfield (49.56) claimed the victories just before Ball won the 200 IM (1:50.19).
Austin Rettinghouse paced Wyoming in the diving events. He took second in each the 1 and 3-meter diving events with scores of 318.85 and 320.85, respectively.
Sullivan’s time in the 100 back (55.50) was the seventh-best in Cowgirl history, while Harutjunjan had the ninth-fastest time in the 100 breast (1:03.07) and the eighth-best mark in the 200 (2:16.13). Ridout marked the seventh-best finish in Cowgirl history in the 50 free (22.87), and the eighth-fastest in the 100 (50.61).
Sullivan claimed another top-ten time in the 200 back, while Coonce added another top-mark with the fifth-best finish in the 100 fly (54.83).
The divers will return to action this coming Friday to take part in the Air Force Diving Invite in Colorado Springs. The Cowgirl swimmers are off until the Mountain West Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 17-20, while the Pokes will next compete in the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 24-27.
Dennison Hired as Director of Sports Performance
LARAMIE – Russell Dennison, the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of Oklahoma Football program the past five years, has been named the new Director of Sports Performance for the University of Wyoming Athletics Department.
Dennison will work directly with the Cowboy Football team in addition to directing the strength and conditioning staff for all of Wyoming’s sports teams.
Dennison has been responsible for designing speed, strength and conditioning programs for the Sooner Football team since 2011, working with Jerry Schmidt, Head of Sports Enhancement at OU. While at Oklahoma, Dennison implemented and instructed football student-athletes on specific speed and strength workouts tailored to their positions.
He monitored student-athletes’ recovery periods and focused on maximizing recovery sessions. Dennison also worked closely with the OU Sports Science Director in gathering and evaluating data on student-athlete workouts.
During his time coaching with the Sooners, Oklahoma won Big XII Championships in 2012 and 2015. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, OU played in the College Football Playoff Semifinals versus Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
They recorded bowl wins over Iowa in the 2011 Insight Bowl and over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl following the 2013 season and made appearances in the Cotton Bowl vs. Texas A&M following the 2012 season and vs. Clemson in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl. The Sooners combined record over the five-year span from 2011-15 was 50-15 (.769).
“I’m very proud to join the Cowboy family and look forward to working with an outstanding group of athletes, coaches, trainers and administrators,” said Dennison. “It’s an exciting time to be a part of Wyoming Athletics. I’m eager to begin working with our staff to enhance the performance of our athletes.”
A former Sooner football player, Dennison was signed by OU out of Weatherford High School in Weatherford, Okla. Dennison lettered four years at OU from 2002-05 as a fullback. He was part of OU teams that earned their way to three consecutive Big XII Championship games in 2002, 2003 and 2004, winning the Big XII title game in 2002 and 2004.
The Sooners played in two consecutive BCS National Championship Games following the 2003 and 2004 seasons, playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl following the 2003 campaign and playing USC in the Orange Bowl following the 2004 season. Dennison was also part of OU teams that defeated Washington State in the Rose Bowl at the conclusion of the 2002 season and defeated Oregon in the 2005 Holiday Bowl.
The Sooners compiled a record of 44-9 (.830) during that four-year span. As a freshman at Oklahoma, Dennison won the Freshman Iron Man Award for outstanding performance in strength and conditioning at OU.
Dennison began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant strength and conditioning coach for football at the Air Force Academy in 2007-08. He returned to his home state of Oklahoma in 2008 to establish the strength and conditioning program at Tulsa Union High School.
In 2010, Dennison was nominated for the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) National High School Strength Coach of the Year. The next year, he accepted the assistant strength and conditioning position at his alma mater, OU.
The Weatherford, Okla., native was named the 2001 Oklahoma Class 4A Defensive Player of the Year at Weatherford High School. He was an outstanding track and field athlete in high school, earning High School All-America honors in the 400 meters.
He was the Oklahoma state champion in the indoor and outdoor 400 meters in 2001. He anchored the gold medal Great Southwest Classic mile-relay team and won an individual 400-meter championship at the 2001 Great Southwest Classic. He was also a three-year starter in basketball.
UW Student-Athletes to Moderate MLK Days of Dialogue
Wyoming Natives Kereston Thomas and Kalah Skates to Lead Session
LARAMIE – One of the events planned for next week’s Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue (MLK DOD) at the University of Wyoming will feature UW student-athletes Kereston Thomas and Kalah Skates leading a discussion titled “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man, The Myth, The Message.”
The session will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 2 from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in the Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge. Both Thomas and Skates are track and field athletes at UW, and both are Wyoming natives. Thomas is a senior from Rawlins, Wyo., and Skates is a junior from Casper, Wyo.
This year’s MLK Days of Dialogue week-long series of events have been given the theme, “Untold Stories, Unheard Voices.” The events begin on Monday, Feb. 1 and run through Saturday, Feb. 6. A complete listing of the week’s events may be found at: www.uwyo.edu/mlkdod.
UW Athletics Excellence at 7220 program is partnering with MLK DOD for Tuesday’s session. The Excellence at 7220 program is focused on helping develop leadership skills in both student-athletes and Athletic Department employees.
MLK DOD events each year are offered to raise awareness of diversity issues, build a sense of community and celebrate diversity. This year’s MLK DOD theme, “Untold Stories, Unheard Voices,” recognizes “the importance of dialogue that gives voices to marginalized communities,” say the committee’s co-chairs, Ryan Dinneen O’Neil and Macki Snyder.
