M Swimming & Diving: #24 Mines at Colorado College – Laramie, Wyo. – Saturday, 9:15 a.m. [Mountain West Network]
W Swimming & Diving: #18 Mines at Wyoming/Northern Colorado – Laramie, Wyo. – Saturday, 9:15 a.m. [Mountain West Network]

---

FIRST ROAD TRIP
It's the first road trip of the season for the Colorado School of Mines men's and women's swimming and diving teams as the Orediggers travel to Wyoming this Saturday. The men will go head-to-head with the Cowboys in dual action. For the women, it will be a tri meet with Wyoming and Northern Colorado. First board of diving starts at 9:15 a.m. with swimming starting at 11 a.m.
 
NOTE THE LOCATION
Fans planning to attend this Saturday's meet should note the location of the event. All diving and swimming will be hosted at Laramie High School located at 1710 Boulder Drive in Laramie, Wyo. The zip code is 82070.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A free live stream of Saturday's action will be offered for free through the Mountain West Network. Live results can also be tracked with a subscription to the MeetMobile app.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
For Mines home events, fans should note that this fall the RMAC Network moved to a pay-per-view model for all events. Fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans can contact Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
THE FORMAT
As mentioned above, the first action on Saturday will be diving. It has not been announced if the first board will be 1-meter or 3-meter. After the first board of diving, racing begins at 11 a.m. The race order can be found below. During the swimming, two different breaks will allow for the women's second board and the men's second board. Men's scoring will be standard dual-meet points. Women's scoring falls under the tri-meet format with finishes awarded points in comparison to both teams.
 
RACE ORDER
Friday's swim slate includes 12 total events with two relays and 10 individual races – known as a standard short order. The difference this weekend will be more of a focus on sprints and less distance action. The tentative order of events is below.
- 400-medley relay
- 200-free
- 50-back
- 50-breast
- 200-fly
BREAK (WOMEN'S DIVING)
- 200-IM
- 200-back
- 50-fly
- 200-breast
BREAK (MEN'S DIVING)
- 500-free
- 100-IM
- 200-freestyle relay
 
RMAC SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
Oredigger sophomore Vladislav Kazakin won RMAC Swimmer of the Week on Thursday thanks to his performances against Colorado College last Friday and against #5 Colorado Mesa on Saturday. Against the Tigers, Kazakin won the 100-free and swim on the bronze-medal 400-medley relay team. On Saturday, the Highlands Ranch High School graduate exploded against the nationally-ranked Mavericks and won every race in which he appeared. It started with a gold medal in the 1000-free thanks to a time of 9:51.44. Then, he dominated the 500-free by over 10 seconds, stopping the block at 4:39.48. That time also broke his own pool record set one week before. Kazakin finished the day as the third leg on the first-place 400-freestyle relay. It marks the first weekly award of Kazakin's college career.
 
PROGRAM RECORDS
Last Friday's dual against Colorado College yielded multiple program records for the Orediggers. The first to strike for Mines was Bruno Albertoni in his first-ever collegiate diving event. It was also the first time an Oredigger competed in diving in over a decade. The true freshman hit a stellar sequence in the 1-meter (6 dives) event and posted a score of 320.40. The tally was good enough for first place and toppled the previous program record held by national champion Richard Williamson. The score also met the NCAA qualifying standard. After Albertoni's record, fellow true freshman Mikaela Khan broke out in the 200-fly. She won the event in 2:05.87 and took down teammate Savannah Karas' previous record – both adjusted for altitude and unadjusted. Khan's time also went under the NCAA "B" qualifying standard.
 
FACILITY RECORDS
So far this season, four different Mines Natatorium records have been broken five times. The first pool record to fall was the 500-free at the hands of Vladislav Kazakin. He posted a low 4:40 time on the first official weekend of racing. Then, last Saturday, he broke his own record again after swimming 4:39.48 to win the 500-free against Colorado Mesa. Ava LaBrose did her damage to the record wall last Friday against Colorado College when she took down Mia Wood's natatorium record in the 200-free. LaBrose stopped the clock at 1:53.62. Finally, later on Saturday, Colorado Mesa's men put their name on the pool's 200-breast and 400-IM records.
 
NCAA QUALIFYING
Most Oredigger swim fans know that Mines doesn't collect a majority of its NCAA qualifying times until the mid-season TYR/CMU Invitational at Colorado Mesa or at the conference championships. This year is different. Through two weekends of racing, three different women have posted NCAA "B" times and one man touts a NCAA standard as well. Against Colorado College, Anna Bream churned out a "B" cut in the 400-IM. Khan's record-breaking 200-fly was a NCAA time as well. LaBrose rounded out the trio of NCAA qualifying with her 200-free performance. Unlike swimming, meeting the diving qualifying standard can happen almost anytime. That's what happened with Bruno Albertoni in his first two collegiate appearances. His record score against Colorado College and a bronze-medal score against Colorado Mesa both met the 1-meter NCAA standard. He'll now have the chance to go to national qualifying the day before the start of the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships to punch his final ticket to the big meet.
 
TAMING THE TIGERS
Mines' women last competed against Colorado College and the men were a part of the action too. The Oredigger women won their dual by a score of 159-81 and the men posted a favorable 138-107 margin. Women's highlights from the dual included Ava LaBrose's pool record in the 200-free, Mikaela Khan's program record in the 200-fly, and NCAA times from LaBrose, Khan, and Anna Bream. Additionally, multiple Orediggers came within fractions of a second of breaking many other facility records. For the men, Bruno Albertoni stole the show in the first Oredigger diving action in over a decade. He won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events while breaking the program 1-meter record and posting a NCAA standard.
 
MEN AGAINST THE MAVERICKS
Saturday's dual between the men of Mines and #5-ranked Colorado Mesa was an exciting affair. The Mavericks won the dual overall by a score of 132-109. However, the Orediggers won the swimming portion of the event by a score of 104-101. That's taking out all the points in diving on both sides. As previously mentioned, Kazakin's 500-free stole the show. He also dominated the 1000-free by more than 10 seconds. Other Oredigger first-place finishes included Charlie Krone in the 200-free, Jakson Winn in the 100-back, Krone in the 100-fly, and the 400-freestyle relay which featured Brenden Cook, Dan Berke, Kazakin, and Winn.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The first Division II Top 25 Dual Meet Rankings of the 2025-26 season were released last week by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches' Association of America (CSCAA). Mines' women debuted at #18 and the men were #24. Drury's men and Tampa's women were #1 in their respective rankings. Other RMAC squads on the men's list included #5 Colorado Mesa and #18 Oklahoma Christian. Conference teams in the women's rankings were #2 Colorado Mesa, #20 Oklahoma Christian, and #25 Simon Fraser. The polls are voted on by a committee consisting of Division II coaches and is meant to reflect the top dual meet teams in all of NCAA Division II. The national rankings are not meant to predict the top finishers in a championship meet format.
 
DIVING RETURNS
Last month, Mines announced the return of men's and women's NCAA Division II diving starting this season. Katherine Andrie will coach and look to regrow the program in the coming years. The history of Mines diving includes 12 all-Americans, an individual national champion, one of the first women in Mines Athletics, and multiple members of the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame. A few of those hall of fame members include NCAA Division II National Champion Rick Williamson, former head coach Bob McCandless, the 1983 Women's Swimming & Diving team, and the Men's Swimming & Diving teams from 1981-84. That rich history threads perfectly with the current goals of the program and the department.
 
HOW DIVING WORKS
In full disclosure, the author has only recently learned the basics of competitive diving. Fans should note there are numerous nuances beyond what's laid out below. In college diving, there are two basic types of diving competitions – six dive competitions and 11 dive competitions. In those events, divers either performer six dives or 11 dives to collect a total score determined by the judges. The very basic types of dives include forward, back, reverse, inward, and twisting. Those terms refer to how the competitor begins their dive. After determining how the dive starts, there are also somersaults, or rotations. Along with somersaults and rotations, there is the position. The position could be straight, pike, tuck, or free. The later often includes multiple positions. All of those things are announced before the dive through a series of numbers along with a letter to clarify straight, pike, tuck, or free. In six dive competitions, all dives are optional and can be picked by the competitor. In 11 dive formats, there are six optional dives and five designated dives. Also, everything mentioned above can happen on a one meter board or a three meter board. Mines does not have platform diving. And with that, the author has exhausted his understanding of diving. Good luck.
 
STAFF UPDATES
Mines Head Coach Claire McDaniel bolstered her swimming & diving staff during the offseason. The newcomers include Katherine Andrie, Nate Rock, Brad Shannon, and Graham Walker. Andrie, as previously introduced, will serve as the men's and women's diving coach. Shannon arrives at Colorado School of Mines as McDaniel's top assistant. Rock and Walker both competed as student-athletes for McDaniel at the University of Denver and have since gained coaching experience around the metropolitan area. The quartet joins veteran Oredigger assistants Andy Foley and Colin Fenster.
 
MEET KATHERINE ANDRIE
As referenced above, Coach Andrie will serve as the lead lady for the Mines diving teams. She joins the staff with both an impressive résumé as a diving coach, and a personal familiarity with Colorado School of Mines. Two of her children, Marty and Carlie, attended Mines and competed for the Orediggers. Marty was a nine-time all-American in cross country and track & field and a member of the 2015 Men's Cross Country team which won the NCAA Division II Championship. That team was inducted into the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame in 2023. Carlie competed in triathlon and for the club water polo team during her time at Mines. On deck, Coach Andrie boasts multiple decades of high school and club coaching experience with stops at numerous high schools in the Denver area including Valor Christian, Littleton, Douglas County, Smoky Hill, and more. 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 following two years as the head man at William Peace University in North Carolina. He and his staff earned 2024-25 Independent South Swimming Conference Men's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding WPU's men to second-place finish at the conference meet while the women took team bronze. The Pacer's 2023-24 squads combined for six gold medals at the ISSC meet and broke nine program records. Prior to William Peace, Shannon was an assistant at the University of Rochester from 2019-23. Additional professional experience includes work as a counselor at both 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 four years. He was a USA Swimming Olympic Trial Qualifier in 2016 as well. He owns a bachelor's degree in international studies with a specialization in security and intelligence from OSU. Shannon earned his master's degree from Concordia Chicago in applied exercise science. Fans can read more about Shannon's accomplishments in his online bio.
 
MEET GRAHAM WALKER
Walker joins the Oredigger staff following an elite amateur and collegiate swimming career. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Walker represented Team Kenya at both the All-Africa Games and the Commonwealth Games. He went on to compete for the University of Denver under coach McDaniel. His high-level performance in the pool also led to serving as team captain his final two years with the Pioneers. Walker's coach career started while he was still in college, teaching swimming lessons, and continued after graduation. He eventually accepted a formal coaching role with the University of Denver Hilltoppers Swim Club in 2022. Since then, Walker coached multiple state champions and program record holders. He returned to DU as an assistant coach in 2024 and helped oversee conference titles and continued competitive success. Fans can also find his bio online.
 
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 coaching responsibilities in 2021. He scored team points for the Pioneers at the 2019 Summit League Championships, finishing fifth in the 500-free and sixth in the 200-back. He did the same again in 2020 and added a fourth-place finish in the 1650-free. In addition to his coaching experience at DU, Rock also served as the coach at Boulder High School and is in his second year guiding the University of Colorado club swim team. His bio can be found online on the Mines Athletics homepage.
 
SQUAD SUMMARY
The Oredigger men's squad features 21 on its roster while the women tout 22. Each roster features one diver with 20 swimmers and 21 swimmers, respectively. Mines' men have 11 returning from the 2024-25 team with 10 fresh faces. Included in those fresh faces are eight true freshman, one redshirt freshman who is in his second year at Mines and one NCAA Division I transfer in Charlie Krone who completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Tennessee. The Oredigger women boast 14 returners, seven true freshman, and Gabi Batol who will dive after attending Mines for one year already. Most notable among the men's returners is sophomore Vladislav Kazakin who was a two-time all-American and won multiple RMAC gold medals as a true freshman. A strong group of returners for the women is led by senior Jordan Tierney who is a five-time all-American after qualifying for the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships all three years of her collegiate career thus far.
 
FRESH FACES
Fresh faces for the Mines men include Bruno Albertoni (diver), Evan Angeline, Fausto Angelone Lopez, Aidan Bailey (redshirt), Dan Berke, Jack Fulham, Charlie Krone (Tennessee) Nathan Moss, Jackson Steider, and Reid Wilkerson. The newest Oredigger women are Gabi Batol (diving), Anna Bream, Willow Coburn, Samantha Crane, Kaya Flaherty, Mary Flikkema, Mikaela Khan, and Michelle Murphy.
 
AT THE HELM
Colorado School of Mines Swimming Head Coach Claire McDaniel is in her seventh season at the helm for the Oredigger men and women. McDaniel won her fourth RMAC Coach of the Year on the men's side after guiding the Orediggers to team silver at the 2024-25 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships. She also owns three RMAC Coach of the Year awards on the women's side. Through six seasons, McDaniel has coached five RMAC Swimmers of the Year, four RMAC Freshmen of the Year, and 27 all-American performances including 23 individual events and four relays.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will take a couple weeks and taper in preparation for the TYR/CMU Invitational hosted by Colorado Mesa from Nov. 19-22. A full preview and live coverage will be available the day before at www.minesathletics.com.
 
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.