M Swimming: #25 Mines at Denver – Denver, Colo. – Friday, 3 p.m. [Live Video]
W Swimming: #21 Mines at Denver – Denver, Colo. – Friday, 3 p.m. [Live Video]

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RETURN TO RACING
It's been more than 40 days since the last official race for the Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Swimming teams. Friday marks the Orediggers' return from hiatus as they head to the University of Denver for a dual with the NCAA Division I Pioneers. The hosts will have one and three meter diving starting at 12 p.m. There will also be Senior Day festivities for DU at 2:40 p.m. First gun for racing is slated for 3 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Friday's action will stream live and for free on YouTube. There will also be live results on the "Meet Mobile" application which can be downloaded on cell phones and does require a subscription.
 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The slate for Friday is a short order lineup including nine individual events and two relays. The full lineup is listed below and is subject to change.
- 200-medley relay
- 1000-free
- 200-free
- 50-free
- 400-IM
BREAK
- 200-fly
- 100-free
- 200-back
- 500-free
BREAK
- 200-breast
- 400-freestyle relay
 
MIDSEASON RECAP
Mines officially started its season on Thursday, Oct. 24, with a women's dual against NCAA Division I New Mexico State. Since then, the Oredigger women have gone 3-1 in dual racing with two victories over Adams State and another against CSU Pueblo. The men are 3-0 thanks to two wins against Adams State and another over Colorado College. Mines closed the first half of its campaign at the TYR/CMU Invitational hosted by Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo. There, after four days and seven sessions of racing, the men finished third thanks to 573 points and the women were fourth on the merits of 405 points. The midseason invite resulted in one program record along with numerous NCAA qualifying times.
 
RECORD RELAY
At the aforementioned TYR/CMU Invitational, Mines' women absolutely flew in the 400-freestyle relay in the final session on the final day of racing. The Oredigger quartet of Jennifer Pierson, Jordan Tierney, Maggie Wells, and Kylie VanderMeer posted an actual time of 3:28.24 which dropped to 3:27.84 when adjusted for altitude both marks were good enough for the program record book. That performance knocked off the previous record which was set during the 2019-20 season. It marks the first program record of the season for Mines' men or women.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
After a strong November, both Mines' men and women returned to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches' Association of America's (CSCAA) 2024-25 Division II Top 25 dual meet poll. The Orediggers had started the season with the men ranked #23 and the women at #25 before dropping out in November. December's national list saw the men slide in at #25 and the women rise all the way to #21. Thus far, the Oredigger men and women tout 24 times ranked 25th or better in NCAA Division II this season. Vladislav Kazakin's seventh-ranked 1000-free and Jordan Tierney's 10th-ranked 200-breast lead the way for the Orediggers. Topping the latest polls were Drury's men and Colorado Mesa's women.
 
NEW MAN ON DECK
Noah Hensley joined the Mines swimming staff over the summer as the second fulltime assistant coach in program history. Hensley brings nearly a decade of experience as a student-athlete and coach at the collegiate level. Most recently, the four-time NCAA All-American was the associate head coach for the men's and women's swimming & diving teams at NCAA Division I Miami University of Ohio. His resume also includes stops at IU Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI) and North Carolina State University where he also competed as a student-athlete. Fans can check out Hensley's full profile HERE.
 
ADDITIONAL ADDITIONS
Head Coach Claire McDaniel enhanced her staff further by hiring assistant coach Jackie Mudd and graduate assistant Colin Fenster. Mudd comes to Mines after competing collegiately at Biola University in California. She's originally from Littleton, Colo., and graduated from Columbine High School. Fenster was a student-athlete at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. That duo, combined with the aforementioned Hensley, join veteran assistant Andy Foley to round out the entire Oredigger staff led by McDaniel.
 
AT THE HELM
Colorado School of Mines Swimming Head Coach Claire McDaniel is in her sixth season at the helm for the Oredigger men and women. McDaniel won her third RMAC Coach of the Year on the men's side after guiding the Orediggers to team silver at the 2023-24 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships. She also owns three RMAC Coach of the Year awards on the women's side. Through five seasons, McDaniel has coached five RMAC Swimmers of the Year, four RMAC Freshmen of the Year, and 25 all-American performances including 21 individual events and four relays.
 
UP NEXT
A January full of duals continues on Saturday, Jan. 11, as Mines heads to Air Force. The men will go head-to-head with the Falcons while the women make it a tri-meet with Northern Colorado in attendance.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines swimming on "X" (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram at @MinesSwimming. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.