Women start strong, end strong at Lobo Invite

The Cougars led the rest of the field at the Lobo Invitational after the first day and held off the competition on day two, to remain perfect on the year. BYU finished the tournament with 1,122 points with Northern Arizona in second (961), New Mexico in third (818) and San Diego State (525) and New Mexico State (289) rounding out the competitors.

The women's lone win on day one came when Brittany Davis swam to victory in the 500 free for the second straight day with a time of 5:03.23. The Cougars did garner big points with second place finishes in the 200 free relay, and 50 free (Hannah Palmer). BYU also placed third and fourth in the 500 free with U-nice Chan's time of 5:11.82 and Shannon Bloom's 5:12.78.

The Cougars wound down the first day action with a three, four, five finish in the 200 IM where Tara Bradshaw posted a time of 2:10.96 and Natasha Schlup swam 2:11.27 and freshman Angela Goodson finished with a time of 2:11.94.

The women began the Saturday morning sessions with a second and fourth place finish in the 200 medley relay. They then garnered more top five finishes in the 400 IM with U-nice Chan placing second with a time of 4:37.97 and Tara Bradshaw finishing fourth touching the wall at 4:42.44.

In the 100 fly Angela Goodson placed third with a time of 59.76 followed by teammate Shannon Bloom in fourth, finishing at 1:00.38.

The women continued to dominate the top five when Brittany Davis and Shannon Bloom finished two, three in the 200 free with times of 1:56.36 and 1:56.65. In the 100 breast Melanie Grant finished fourth (1:09.21) and the younger Bloom sister, Jamie, finished second with a time of 1:07.49, continuing to impress head coach Stan Crump.

"Jamie has really been swimming out of her mind this weekend," he said. "I've really been impressed with her in these competitive meets."

The Cougars finished out the morning session with two first place finishes: Brittany Davis in the 100 back (59.29) and the 800 free relay team posting a time of 7:49.28.

BYU began the Saturday afternoon session with a one, two finish in the 200 back with Natasha Schlup edging out fellow team mate Brittany Davis 2:07.03 to 2:07.05.

Jamie Bloom captured her second straight win in the 200 breast over the weekend with a time of 2:24.05.

Freshman U-nice Chan also repeated as champion in the 200 fly with a time 2:10.03.

The women also had a strong representation on the diving board with freshman Angela Nelson placing second on the 1-meter and third on the 3-meter. Fellow team mates Aubrey Low finished fifth on the 1-meter and freshman Kristin Pitt placed second on the 3-meter.