NAU vs New Mexico State (W)
- Saturday, November 5, 2022
- Las Cruces, N.M.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: NAU 180, NM State 120
Courtesy: NAU Athletics
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (November 5, 2022) – NAU Swimming and Diving closed out the back-to-back meet days in New Mexico with a 180-120 win against the New Mexico State Aggies.
“It was two days of solid competition and our team had a lot of energy that really helped with their performances,” Head Coach Andy Johns said.
The Lumberjacks put up a solid day on the boards once again as Grace Wesche placed first on both the 1m and 3m boards for the first time in her NAU career, as a true freshman. Wesche finished the 1m dives with a score of 274.50 and the 3m dives with a score of 265.88.
Once again, NAU went one-two-three through both diving events as Makenna Sammons and Mackenna Stocker finished behind Wesche on the 1-meter, with scores of 244.58 and 243.15, respectively.
Makenna Sammons and Maegan Jensen tied for second place on the 3-meter, both finishing with scores of 262.80, followed by Mackenna Stocker who placed third with a score of 247.88.
In the pool, NAU continued off of yesterday’s momentum, starting the day off with a win in the 200 medley relay from the Jacks ‘A’ team in Sophie Velitchkov, Haley Mayhew, Caylah Jago, and Elsa Musselman, coming in at 1:45.68. Musselman secured two individual first place finishes in both fly events, coming in at 2:04.55 in the 200 and 55.83 in the 100.
The Lumberjacks were able to capitalize on the events NMSU placed first in, taking the 2-3-4 spots on three separate occasions in today’s meet to keep the margin close for the Jacks. Casey Craffey and Francesca Criscione made the two-three punch in the 1000 free as Craffey came in at 10:36.58, followed by Criscione at 10:47.69.
Gracie Munk secured another first place finish in the 100 backstroke coming in at 57.14, followed by NAU’s Velitchkov for the one-two finish. In another one of many 1-2-3 events for the Lumberjacks, Haley Mayhew, Cydnie Perkins, and Delaney Phillips placed first, second, and third, respectively.
NAU will now host the first Lumberjacks Diving Invite the Nov. 17-19 and the swimmers will travel to the A3 Performance Invite in Colorado for the second season in a row.
Courtesy: NM State Sports
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a couple of weekends without official competition, NM State returned to the pool as they hosted nine-time WAC Champion Northern Arizona on Saturday morning. Despite some impressive showings, the Aggies fell to the Lumberjacks, 180-120.
SWIMMING
- Following a second-place finish from the Aggies in the 200 medley relay to start the meet, freshman Naomi Slee turned in NM State’s first solo win as she reached the wall first in the 1000 freestyle – posting a season-best time of 10:25.66.
- Later, the Aggie sprinters would display their talents as four of the top five swims in the 50 free belonged to swimmers donning Crimson & White, led by Aimee Burton (23.82) and Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt (24.50).
- Burton also found the podium two events later as she took second in the 100 free with a time of 53.55. She was followed by Dreamer Kowatch who clocked in at 54.42 to finish third.
- Thea Masselink then picked up a win in the 200 backstroke by way of finishing with a time of 2:05.26.
- For the second time of the day, Naomi Slee dominated a distance swim as she touched the wall at 5:04.28 to finish nearly five seconds ahead of the next closest competitor.
- An Aggie found their way to the top of the podium in the 200 individual medley, as well as Lindsay Puhalski and Faye McDonagh, finished one-two. Puhalski posted a time of 2:08.30 while McDonagh swam the event in 2:08.61.
DIVING
- Italia Aranzabal and Kate Malinowski were the top two Aggie performers in the three-meter dive as Aranzabal finished sixth with a finals score of 222.53 and Malinowski finished eighth with a score of 186.38.
- Aranzabal also had a strong finish in the one-meter event where she collected 235.35 points to finish in fourth place.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
“The score wasn’t really an indication of how competitive we were today. A couple of things could have gone differently and we would have been right in the mix. I thought we had so many great swims.
“We had a couple of girls coming off of an illness and really put it on the line which was inspiring. Our freshmen are getting better every day. Naomi Slee was incredible today. Lindsay Puhalski, who’s been sick this week, was really inspiring. I think overall we’ll come away from the day with many positive things and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
UP NEXT
The Aggie divers will get ready to take the boards with the Lumberjack divers once again when they head to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the NAU Diving Invite in two weeks. Meanwhile, the entire Aggie team won’t be in action until December 3 when NM State hosts UT Permian Basin.
