NAU vs Ottawa vs Arizona Christian vs Idaho
- Friday, October 21, 2022
- Flagstaff, Ariz.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Scores
- Women: NAU 207, Arizona Christian 69
- Women: NAU 207, Ottawa 6
- Women: NAU 182, Idaho 110
- Women: Idaho 245, Arizona Christian 42
- Women: Idaho 245, Ottawa 6
- Women: Arizona Christian 178, Ottawa 8
- Men: Arizona Christian 115, Ottawa 88
Courtesy: NAU Athletics
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz (October 21, 2022) – NAU Swimming and Diving opened up the 2022-23 season with a bang, securing a win against a duo of NAIA schools and one WAC opponent that made the trip to the Wall Aquatic Center.
NAU defeated Arizona Christian University (207-69), Ottawa University Arizona (207-6) and The University of Idaho (182-110). The Lumberjacks hope the win over conference-foe Idaho is a precursor for the year as NAU begins the journey toward a 10th consecutive WAC Championship in February.
“I’m really happy with their result and especially their efforts,” NAU swim head coach Andy Johns said of his swimmers. “That was some hard racing. It’s a great start this season.”
The Lumberjacks started the meet strong with a win in the 200-yard medley relay with Team A finishing with a time of 1:46.60, better than NAU’s Team A victory in last season’s opener by over half a second. The winning team of Sophie Velitchkov, Delaney Phillips, Elsa Musselman and Nicole Kepl beat Idaho’s Team A by over one second.
Velitchkov was one of the many Lumberjacks that showed out in the meet, winning every event she participated in to earn four victories. The sophomore won the 100-yard backstroke (56.82) for the second year in a row and was followed by this year’s Pentathlon winner Gracie Munk (57.54).
Velitchkov continued her dominance with a win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.36. She finished off her perfect day with a victorious 200-yard backstroke (2:06.80), beating the field by over a second. NAU claimed the top four spots in the event with Munk (2:08.02), Annie Carlton (2:08.42) and Abigail Tashlein (2:10.21).
Munk, fresh off her Pentathlon win in September, finished right behind Velitchkov in both the 200 and 100-yard backstroke.
As the program continues to grow its veteran talent in hopes of another conference title, underclass students continued their success in the Pentathlon as well as the Blue and Gold meet. Sophomore Bena Koehn carried the torch for the newcomers, finishing on the podium in her three events, including wins in the 100-yard free (52.55) and the 200 yard free (1:54.88).
Freshman Elsa Musselman also won the 200-yard Butterfly (2:09.17) by over three seconds as the Lumberjacks swept the top four in the event.
“Bena was impressive,” Johns said. “Elsa was really good. I think for a first college swim meet, a lot of our freshmen swam really well.”
The freestyle events were particularly strong for NAU. Sophomore Helena Robla-Alvarez matched her Blue and Gold winning performance in the 500 yard free (5:11.84). She finished behind Koehn in the 200 yard free with a time of 1:55.57.
The Diving Team also performed well, with all seven Lumberjack divers finishing in the top seven of both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
Junior Maegan Jensen topped the boards of the 1-meter dive (273.90), beating the Wesche twins of Grace (273.75) and Margaret (272.25), to round out the podium. The standings shifted in the 3-meter dive with freshman Mackenna Stocker winning her first event as a Lumberjack and was the only diver to break 300 points (302.70).
Jensen, the Wesche twins and Stocker qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships with their top-four finishes in the 1-meter dive. The four also qualified for the zones in the 3-meter dive for finishing in the top six of that meet. They are joined by sophomore Makenna Sammons and junior Reaney Preston in the 3-meter dive.
“I loved how the top four or five were all so close in scores,” NAU dive head coach Nikki Kelsey said. “It just shows that these ladies are going to keep pushing each other, which is going to help them get better and better.”
NAU has a quick turnaround as the season gets underway. The Lumberjacks will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a meet against the University of New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 4.
To stay up to date with the NAU Swimming and Diving Team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.
Courtesy: ACU Athletics
Flagstaff, Ariz.- Starting their 2022-23 season in the neutral pool of NAU, Arizona Christian beat OUAZ on Friday.
Sophomore Alois Garraux and Freshmen Tucker House and Mikita Kliments all had two first place finishes.
Event Details
- Scoring teams: Arizona Christian- 114.50, OUAZ- 87.50
- Location: Wall Aquatics Center, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Top 3 Finishes/ NAIA Cuts/ Team Records
- 200 Medley Relay- Kadin van der Lingen, Garraux, Kliments, Noah Froese– 1:40.10 (1st)
- 100 Back- Bobby Kovalcik– 57.55 (2nd)
- 100 Breast- Garraux- 1:04.17 (1st)
- 100 Breast- Josh Brady– 1:11.56 (2nd)
- 200 Fly- House- 2:10.81 (1st)
- 50 Free- Froese- 23.10 (3rd)
- 100 Free- Kliments- 49.89 (1st)
- 200 Back- van der Lingen- 2:10.90 (2nd)
- 200 Back- House- 2:19.10 (3rd)
- 200 Breast- Garraux- 2:27.74 (1st)
- 200 Breast- Brady- 2:40.24 (2nd)
- 500 Free- House- 5:34.19 (1st)
- 100 Fly- Froese- 55.88 (2nd)
- 200 IM- Kliments- 2:06.06 (1st)
- 400 Free Relay- van der Lingen, Froese, Garraux, Kliments- 3:23.58 (1st)
Coach Hering’s Perspective
“Our men’s team is pretty broken down from training, however House, established a new school record and win in the 200 fly of 2:09.21 with the altitude adjustment. Our first meet of the season at 7,000 ft altitude is always very challenging but we are grateful to swim in a world class facility against NCAA Division I schools!”
Next On The Schedule
The Firestorm will next participate in a competitive meet at the Wyatt Balman Invitational hosted by Soka on November 12.
