NAU vs New Mexico State
- December 16, 2023
- Flagstaff, Ariz.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Day 1 Results
- Day 2 Results
Courtesy: NAU Athletics
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 16, 2023) – Returning to a more traditional 16-event meet at Wall Aquatic Center on Saturday, Northern Arizona Swimming and Diving continued to return to its dominance against WAC foes, taking out New Mexico State 186-114.
NAU ended the 2023 calendar year, having not dropped a single WAC dual meet and won its 10th consecutive conference championship this past February.
“The first part of the meet was very good to us,” head coach Andy Johns said. “Obviously, diving continues to be dominant. We had to deal with some adversity today with many tough races from New Mexico State. It is great to see our team move forward, and is a terrific way to end the semester.”
In a similar fashion to Friday’s relay day, Northern Arizona came out strong out of the gate with the ‘A’ relay of Bena Koehn, Annie Carlton, Ellie McFarland and Sophie Velitchkov, scoring the best time with a 1:44.96 in the 200-yard medley relay.
Up next was the grueling 1,000-yard freestyle, and in come-from-behind fashion, Francesca Criscione was the last one standing after trailing at the 800-meter. Criscione wound up finishing almost two full seconds ahead of New Mexico State at 10:35.20.
Following being a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay, Sophie Velitchkov did some heavy lifting of her own, ending with the fastest time in the 100-yard backstroke with a 57.11.
The 100-yard backstroke saw Lumberjack swimmers earn the two quickest times, with Cydnie Perkins clocking in at 1:05.51 for first-place honors, and Trelise Dance was right behind her at 1:05.98.
It was a hat trick for Northern Arizona in the 200-yard butterfly event, racking up the best three outcomes. Maddy Rey came in first at 2:06.59, Caylah Jago was second at 2:09.77, and the 2:12.61 mark Kendall Carlson set was good enough for third.
Jago would eventually get a first-place time later in the meet, with her 56.47 second time topping all swimmers in the 100-yard butterfly.
Elsa Musselman individually had three top times of her own, finishing first in the 50-yard freestyle at 23.53, the 100-yard freestyle earning a time of 52.01, and the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:06.84 finish.
After the diving teams competed in 3-meter and a team event during Friday’s meet, it was all about the 1-meter and platform dives today.
Victoria Knapp had top billing in the 1-meter with a final score of 309.75, just 0.15 points ahead of second place Grace Wesche. NAU had the five best scores at 1-meter.
Despite New Mexico State’s Mira Tinani having the best scores in the platform competition, Lumberjack divers occupied spots two through five.
Up next for the Lumberjacks is a trip to Tucson to face off with its first power five opponent, the Arizona Wildcats, on Jan. 5. NAU will not have a home meet until Jan. 27-28, when they take on Utah Tech at Wall Aquatic Center.
Courtesy: NM State Sports
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – NM State’s weekend came to a close on Saturday at the Wall Aquatic Center as they finished off a two-day event against WAC counterpart Northern Arizona.
Following a relay meet on Friday, NM State fell 179-121 in the traditional dual on Saturday. In total, the Aggies claimed two win on Friday while adding another six first-place finishes on Friday.
The team of Emily Dobbins, Kodi Wiman, Lindsay Puhalski and Katie Rink started the weekend off with a second-place finish in the first event of the weekend as they logged a time of 3:47.30 in the 400 medley relay.
After three more silver medal finishes, the trio of Lindsay Puhalski, Kodi Wiman and Thea Masselink earned a first-place finish in the 300 medley relay with a time of 2:54.97. This was followed with another top mark as Kathryn Gyde, Emily Dobbins, Katie Rink and Naomi Slee posted a time of 4:25.80 to finish as the fastest team in the 500 free relay.
On Saturday, sophomore Naomi Slee collected the Aggies’ first individual victory as she reached the wall first in the 200 free – recording a time of 1:53.07. Later, the Aggies impressed in the 50 free as they landed two swimmers on the podium. Kathryn Gyde paced the Aggies with a second-place finish thanks to a time of 24.12 while Emily Dobbins finished just one-tenth of a second behind Gyde to claim third in the sprint.
Thea Masselink then flexed her muscles in the 200 back as she finished first with a time of 2:06.89. This was the first of back-to-back victories for the Crimson and White as Kodi Wiman logged a first-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:24.04.
The platform dive was another strong event for the Aggies as freshman Mira Tinani claimed the top spot with a score of 259.88. The Aggies would later conclude the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 free relay on behalf of a combined time of 1:21.56 from Kathryn Gyde, Emily Dobbins, Kira Brownell and Katie Rink.
HEAD COAH RICK PRATT
“We had some great performances today and, despite the loss, we have much to be proud of. Traveling up here and swimming in this environment is a big challenge and our team was very tough and fought until the end. We had a great second half to the meet and had many individuals figuring things out along the way and that says a lot about our conditioning and mental toughness.
“Naomi was outstanding and really stood out. She was having fun and swimming with confidence as were many of our athletes. Mira winning platform was amazing as well and our team will walk away better for the experience today.”
DAY ONE
400 Medley Relay
2. Dobbins, Wiman, L. Puhalski, Rink – 3:47.30
5. Masselink, Gyde, McDonagh, Slee – 3:55.35
6. Cratsenberg, Ceshker, Kowatch, Khiyara – 4:00.45
7. Brownell, Crespo, Osthelder, Cervantes-Vanderlugt – 4:01.63
300 Butterfly Relay
2. L. Puhalski, McDonagh, Osthelder – 2:48.84
3. Kowatch, J. Puhalski, Galo – 2:55.34
300 Backstroke Relay
2. Dobbins, Masselink, Slee – 2:50.21
4. J. Puhalski, Osthelder, Cervantes-Vanderlugt – 2:56.43
5. Ferrari, Cratsenberg, Brownell – 2:57.76
300 Breaststroke Relay
2. Gyde, McDonagh, Wiman – 3:13.32
3. Ceshker, Ferrari, Crespo – 3:24.27
300 Medley Relay
1. L. Puhalski, Wiman, Masselink – 2:54.97
5. Khiyara, Crespo, Galo – 3:01.23
500 Freestyle Relay
1. Gyde, Dobbins, Rink, Slee – 4:25.80
4. Ceshker, Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Khiyara, Kowatch – 4:35.82
5. Ferrari, Cratsenberg, J. Puhalski, Marthaler – 4:40.07
DAY TWO
200 Medley Relay
2. Gyde, Dobbins, Ceshker, Ferrari – 1:45.77
4. Osthelder, Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Kowatch, Rink – 1:48.66
1000 Freestyle
2. Katie Rink – 10:37.19
5. Estel Galo – 11:08.73
6. Bella Marthaler – 11:20.75
200 Freestyle
1. Naomi Slee – 1:53.07
3. Dreamer Kowatch – 1:57.30
7. Lina Khiyara – 1:59.12
100 Backstroke
2. Lindsay Puhalski – 57.11
4. Thea Masselink – 58.90
6. Jamie Puhalski – 1:00.33
8. Bella Cratsenberg – 1:03.13
100 Breaststroke
3. Kodi Wiman – 1:06.08
5. Faye McDonagh – 1:07.48
6. Riley Crespo – 1:09.79
200 Butterfly
3. Ellen Osthelder – 2:14.81
6. Estel Galo – 2:15.87
50 Freestyle
2. Kathryn Gyde – 24.12
3. Emily Dobbins – 24.13
4. Emilee Ferrari – 24.44
5. Callie Ceshker – 24.59
6. Katie Rink – 24.65
8. Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt – 25.09
10. Kira Brownell – 25.27
11. Lina Khiyara – 25.33
1-Meter Dive
6. Mira Tinani – 293.48
9. Megan Ono – 220.73
10. Casey Schmidt – 211.95
100 Freestyle
3. Emily Dobbins – 53.20
6. Callie Ceshker – 54.22
7. Lina Khiyara – 54.42
8. Elizabeth Cervantes- Vanderlugt – 55.02
9. Emilee Ferrari – 55.14
10. Kira Brownell – 55.45
11. Kathryn Gyde – 56.14
12. Bella Cratsenberg – 57.22
200 Backstroke
1. Thea Masselink – 2:06.89
6. Jamie Puhalski – 2:11.10
200 Breaststroke
1. Kodi Wiman – 2:24.04
5. Riley Crespo – 2:27.61
6. Faye McDonagh – 2:28.12
8. Bella Marthaler – 2:36.92
500 Freestyle
1. Naomi Slee – 5:07.21
6. Katie Rink – 5:26.55
7. Estel Galo – 5:32.70
100 Butterfly
2. Lindsay Puhalski – 57.45
3. Dreamer Kowatch – 59.75
4. Ellen Osthelder – 1:00.28
Platform Dive
1. Mira Tinani – 259.88
6. Casey Schmidt – 237.08
10. Megan Ono – 193.35
200 IM
2. Lindsay Puhalski – 2:07.98
3. Faye McDonagh – 2:12.10
4. Kodi Wiman – 2:13.28
6. Riley Crespo – 2:14. 32
7. Lina Khiyara – 2:16.51
9. Thea Masselink – 2:17.01
11. Bella Marthaler – 2:20.33
200 Freestyle
1. Gyde, Dobbins, Brownell, Rink – 1:21.56
3. Ferrari, J. Puhalski, Cratsenberg, Slee – 1:39.02
5. Osthelder, Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Kowatch, Ceshker – 1:39.56
