RESULTS
 
COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Swimming teams wrapped up the two-day Air Force Invitational on Saturday afternoon with multiple quality performances.
 
Friday's and Saturday's action featured the Orediggers going exclusively against NCAA Division I competition.  As the water settled, Mines' men finished second with 1,006 points. They outraced the University of Wyoming (316) while the hosting Falcons took first with 1,524 points. The Oredigger women took fourth overall as Air Force, Northern Colorado, and Wyoming went 1-2-3. It marked Mines' first action in over a month.
 
The highlight of the weekend was the very last event; the men's 200-freestyle relay. Jakson Winn, Seth Krause, Garrett Waite, and Sam LaPrade teamed up to take first place. They out-touched three air force quartets and two other Oredigger teams. Mines' winning time was 1:23.75, more than half a second better than Air Force. The Oredigger quad of Luca Burns, Braden Hunt, Joe Peak, and Nick Delany also took bronze in the same race.
 
While the men's relay was Mines' only event victory of the weekend, there were many other quality performances. For the first time this season, Luca Burns, Jack Engler, Seth Krause, and Braden Hunt joined forces in the men's 200-medley relay and finished #5 in 1:35.48. Charles Burroughs was #4 in the men's 200-IM thanks to a 1:58.00 pace at altitude. Jordan Tierney's 24.94 in the 50-free also marked a season best as she finished in the top half of the field. In the men's 50-free, Garrett Waite blasted a season-best 21.35 and took third.
 
Another big finish for the Orediggers came from Tierney in the women's 100-breast. She took second in 1:05.74. Then, Gavin Moore's 1:44.65 in the men's 200-free improved his season best by nearly 10 seconds and gave him bronze in the event. Kerrigan Hemp's 59.08 in the women's 100-back also marked a season low and was good enough for #4. Mines highlights carried into the men's 100-back as Krause posted his first race in the event this season, touching in 51.67 to take third. Another new relay team for 2022-23 featured Moore, Braden Whitmarsh, Delany, and Peak. They claimed silver in the 400-freestyle relay thanks to a 3:12.09 clip.
 
Rounding out Mines' highlights were a slew of top-three finishes. The men's 400-medley relay of Burns, Waite, Burroughs, and Winn took silver. Jack Engler was #3 in the men's 200-back. Burroughs grabbed a silver in the 100-fly. Meghan Slowey finished #3 in the women's 1000-free after swimming her first 100-free of the season. Finally, Scott Reeder took third in the men's 1000-free.
 
The Orediggers close the 2022-23 regular season on Saturday, Jan. 21, in a home dual against Wyoming. It will also be Senior Day. A full preview and any live coverage will be released the week leading up to the next event.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines swimming on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @MinesSwimming. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.