NAU vs Utah Tech (Women)
- Saturday, January 28, 2023
- St. George, Utah
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: NAU 168, Utah Tech 113
The Northern Arizona women secured a 168-113 victory over Utah Tech on Saturday to close out their dual meet schedule, but perhaps the biggest story emerging from the meet came for the Trailblazers as junior Pia Murray set two new school records.
The FSU commit who hails from Preston, England, improved on her school records in the 100 back and 100 fly set last weekend against Idaho, clocking 53.87 and 54.18, respectively. The previous week, she swam respective times of 53.91 and 54.25.
The 100 fly swims were new best times, while her 100 back PB sits at 53.85, set at the 2021 ACC Championships.
Murray’s time in the 100 back would’ve placed second at last season’s WAC Championships, trailing only Northern Colorado senior Madelyn Moore (53.14), who has since graduated.
Courtesy: NAU Athletics
ST. GEORGE, Utah (January 28, 2023) – The Lumberjacks earned a 168-113 victory on the road at Utah Tech for the last dual meet of the season.
NAU finished their dual meet slate on a strong note, building off the team’s momentum through the last two January meets while posting multiple top times throughout the meet.
“It was a great meet, we put up a lot of top times for the season with a lot of competitive races with a bit of pressure,” Head Coach Andy Johns said. “It’s good practice for the conference meet coming up, it’s time to sharpen up now.”
The Jacks started off with second and third place finishes in the 400 medley relay, highlighted by NAU’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams, respectively. Gracie Munk, Haley Mayhew, Elsa Musselman, and Bena Koehn closed out second place with a time of 3:43.80, followed by Sophie Velitchkov, Delaney Phillips, Caylah Jago, and Annie Carlton who finished at 3:46.22.
Casey Craffey found herself at the top of the 1000 free yet again, championing the event and breaking under 10 minutes for the first time in her collegiate career (9:59.05). Francesca Criscione finished third in the event, coming in at 10:23.18.
Bena Koehn (1:51.13) and Helena Robla-Alvarez (1:51.43) put in the one-two punch for NAU as they picked up first and second place in a close 200 freestyle race. Haley Mayhew followed suit, championing the 100 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:03.45, marking a top time for the senior.
Freshman Elsa Musselman continued proving her ability in the 200 fly, placing first at 1:59.62 for the Jacks. Musselman’s impressive finish marks her top time and first time breaking the two minute mark. Musselman was followed by teammate Maddy Rey who came in third place for the Jacks (2:04.07).
Mayhew earned yet another first place of the day, finishing the 200 breaststroke at 2:16.77. The finish gave Mayhew a season top time in the event previously marked at 2:17.34. Craffey got in on the multiple first place finishes for the Jacks, putting up a time of 4:56.12 in the 500 free.
Closing out the day for the Lumberjacks, Mayhew stepped up to the plate once again to bring in first place in the 200 IM (2:04.56). Rey followed with a first place finish in the 400 IM, with the Jacks going on to place first in the 200 free relay. Koehn, Jago, Carlton, and Velitchkov finished off the relay at 1:35.39.
The Lumberjacks will host the Lumberjack Diving Invite next Friday and Saturday at the Wall Aquatic Center.
To stay up to date with NAU Swimming and Diving, follow the Jacks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Courtesy: Utah Tech Athletics
Utah Tech swimming combined to break four school records and claimed six event victories in the Trailblazers’ final home dual meet of the season against Northern Arizona on Senior Day Saturday at the HPC Pool.
A week after she won three individual events and shattered two school records, junior Pia Murray duplicated that feat on Saturday. Murray swept both backstroke races, breaking her own school record time in the 100-yard race with a time of 53.87, which also bettered her top mark in the Western Athletic Conference in that event by 0.04 seconds.
Murray then won the 200 back with a time of 1:58.27 (#4 all-time at UT), before she broke her school record in the 100 butterfly with a winning time of 54.18.
Meanwhile, freshman Ikea Losey posted event victories in both the 50 free (23.70, #3 all-time at UT) and the 100 free (51.20; t-#3 all-time at UT).
In addition, the Trailblazers came away with seven runner-up showing, highlighted by freshman Lily Magda shattering the school record in the 1,000 free by more than seven seconds with a second-place 10:13.86. Magda also took second in the 500 free, touching the wall in a time of 5:01.10 (#8 all-time at UT).
Junior Eleonore Rembert also picked up a pair second-place finishes in the 100 back (55.32; #9 all-time at UT) and the 200 IM (2:06.94; #7 all-time at UT). Fellow junior Skyler Lyon also claimed a runner-up finish in the 100 breast (1:03.68), as did sophomores Mandy Farnum (24.28) in the 50 free and Reese Hazan (1:59.69; #2 all-time at UT) in the 200 fly.
In the relays, the Utah Tech 400 medley relay “A” team of Rembert, Lyon, Murray and Losey broke the school record by just over one second with a race-winning time of 3:40.94 (#2 all-time at UT). Then in the last race of the day, the 200 free relay “A” team of sophomore Ally Boynton, Farnum, freshman Natalia Zmierczak and senior Chloe Partsch clocked a 1:35.74 (#7 all-time at UT) to place second.
Utah Tech will close out the 2022-23 regular season the weekend of Feb. 10-11, when the Blazers travel to Las Vegas to swim at the UNLV First Chance Invite.
