Sorensen’s Co-Swimmer of the Meet Honor Highlights Final Day of MW Championships

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Boise State senior Abbey Sorensen went back-to-back in the 200-yard backstroke to lead the Broncos on the final day of the 2019 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. She also set the meet record for the championships during the preliminary heats of the 200 back during the morning clocking a 1:53.74. Sorensen finished the championships with three conference titles to her name the 50-yard freestyle, 200 back and was a member of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay to earn her Mountain West Co-Swimmer of the Meet recognition.

Boise State senior Abbey Sorensen was named Mountain West Championships Co-Swimmer of the Meet after recording 2 individual titles and was part of 1 relay title!!!

CONGRATS ABBEY!

GO BRONCOS! #BleedBlue @BroncoSports @MW_OlySports @boisestatelive pic.twitter.com/6zKHLyscPg
— Boise State S&D (@BroncoSportsSD) February 24, 2019

On the day, Boise State saw two event championships, 17 Broncos advance into the finals Saturday night recording five top-five finishes and 12 top-10 results. Leading the way was Sorensen with her second individual title of the meet. Ally Kleinsorgen placed second in the 200 back; Cody Evans took third in the 100-yard freestyle; Mandy Barnes was fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle; and Laura Williams came in fifth during the 200-yard breaststroke.

The Broncos' second title of the day and third of the meet came in the final event winning the 400 free relay by nearly two seconds over second-place with a time of 3:17.19. The relay team was comprised of seniors Sorensen, Evans, Kleinsorgen and junior Robin Pinger.

In addition, nine Broncos set career-best marks Saturday led by freshman Madesyn Ronquillio with two in the 200 back prelims and finals.

Overall, Boise State saw their championship streak end at two (2017 and 2018) with a third-third place finish in 2019 scoring 1,159 points. San Diego State won the title with 1,363.5 points followed by Nevada in second at 1,261.5.

200-Yard Backstroke Recap

Boise State senior Abbey Sorensen claimed back-to-back titles in the 200 back clocking a winning time of 1:53.90. Kleinsorgen finished a close second with a 1:55.03 to complete the 1-2 sweep for the Broncos. Joining the two seniors in the finals were Molly Hogg at 1:57.40 for ninth, Lauren Sale (1:58.40) in 13th, Madesyn Ronquillio (1:59.44) in 14th and Katie McCoy (1:57.90) who won the C final to place 17th overall. Hogg's, Ronquillio's and McCoy's times were all new career-bests.

In the morning preliminaries three Broncos set then-career-bests led by Sorensen who won the prelims with a MW Championship meet record with a time of 1:53.74. The other two with personal bests were Sale (1:58.07) who place ninth and Ronquillio (1:59.60) which finished in 13th. Kleinsorgen did finish right behind Sorensen in second during the prelims with a 1:55.15, while Hogg (1:59.32) took 12th and McCoy (2:0.20) placed 18th.

100-Yard Freestyle Recap

Four Broncos made the finals of the 100 free led by senior Cody Evans who came in third with a time of 49.67. In sixth place was Pinger with a season-best 50.07, followed by Emmie Jennings who had a season-best 50.28 to finish in ninth. Freshman Lauren Vitort turned in a 51.13 in the C final to place 22nd.

The prelims of the 100 free saw four Broncos swim qualifying times to reach the finals led by Evans' 49.68 to place second overall. Pinger was close behind placing fourth with a 49.86, while Jennings (50.55) was 12th with Vitort taking 18th. In a exhibition swim Boise State sophomore Emma Segneri clocked a 52.93.

200-Yard Breaststroke Recap

Williams was the lone Bronco in the 200 breast finals clocking 2:13.37 to take fifth at the championships.

Williams led the three Broncos in the event placing seventh overall with a 2:14.66. Cassie Barkhorn swam a 2:21.72, while freshman Kai Nabeta — swimming in exhibition — clocked a personal-best 2:19.90 to finish third in her heat.

200-Yard Butterfly Recap

The finals of the 200 fly saw Boise State's Barnes overcome swimming the 1,650 free earlier in the night to place eighth overall with a 2:01.90. Sophomore Brittany Wen added a 11th-place finish with a season-best time of 2:02.15.

Barnes swam a career-best 2:00.65 in the prelims to place seventh overall heading into the finals, while Wen turned in a 2:02.12 to place 11th. Swimming in exhibition was senior Anne Boodt who recorded a 2:11.26.

1,650-Yard Freestyle Recap

Four Broncos swam in the 1,650 free on Saturday with Barnes taking fourth on a season-best 16:40.05. Alyssa Schultz was next finishing in seventh with a season-best 16:46.42, followed by Hayley Hill (16:47.95) in ninth and Jamie Nats in 18th on a career-best 17:06.57.

Platform Diving Recap

Cassidy Bose scored a season-high 247.25 to win the consolation final by 12 points and place ninth overall at the championships. She tallied three dives of 50-plus points with the other two in the 40s, the overall score also improved her NCAA Zone qualifying mark.

In the prelims Bose led the Broncos with a high of 218.80 to place ninth, while Marti Erlam tallied 204.90 — her second-best score of the year — to place 19th. Diving in exhibition was Tatum Thompkins who finish with a 169.40.