The University of New Mexico swimming and diving team breaks losing streak of the past two seasons against Northern Arizona by defeating the Lumberjacks in today’s dual meet with a final score of 170 to 130.
The Lobos proved that they could carry another win over to this weekend as they took first place in nine out of 16 events.
New Mexico saw first place at the start of the meet in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kaela McKee, Kristin Walker, Madi Burns, and Morgan Ginnis took first with a time of 1:45.44. Amber Amr, Emily McGill, Samantha Moss, and Shayla King followed for second at 1:47.88.
McKee brought in another first place title for the Lobos in the 100-yard backstroke as she touched the wall at 57.36. Amr came in after for second at 58.33.
New Mexico also took first and second in the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard freestyle relay.
Caitlin Gardiner took the 200-yard backstroke at 2:07.40. Amr finished for second place again at 2:08.39.
The Lobos’ top two 400-yard freestyle relay teams of King, Fanni Pataki, Amelie Braul, Ginnis and Anna Lilliestrom, April Chee, Caitlin Gardiner, and Celina Bertrand took first and second at 3:31.74 and 3:33.94, respectively to add another 15 points to the team’s overall score.
Next was the 100-yard breaststroke. Walker and McGill raced the event with times of 1:05.76 and 1:06.88 for first and third place, respectively.
This isn’t the first time New Mexico showed a first through third place sweep in a meet. The Lobos exhibited this pattern again today in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, and 200-yard IM.
King and Ginnis appeared yet again as top finishers as they took first and second at 24.09 and 24.30 in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively. Chee took third in the same event finishing with a time of 24.34.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Pataki took first at 52.34, King took second at 52.83, and Braul took third at 53.10.
UNM carried this trend over to the 200-yard IM where sophomores McGill and Abigail Wheeler took first and third with times of 2:08.77 and 2.11.65, respectively. Freshman Celine Bertrand finished for second place right before Wheeler at 2:11.37.
Anna Lengyel who raced a time of 5:07.51 found a final first place finish for the Lobos in the 500-yard freestyle.
Lengyel further contributed to New Mexico’s score as she took second in both the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:28.79 and in the 200-yard butterfly at
2:06.47. Bertrand finished for third in the same event at 2:06.91.
The Lobos took second and third place in the same event two more times.
Pataki and Gardiner finished for second and third in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:55.77 and 1:56.23, respectively.
Wheeler brought in another second place in the 100-yard butterfly touching the pad at 56.99 while Moss finished for third at 58.35.
UNM bumped up their score even more as Englestead finished second at 2:22.97 and McGill finished for fourth at 2:24.08 in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Diving
New Mexico’s divers kicked off the springboard events with the 3-meter diving event where Rachel Colman placed second with a finals score of 251.48 and Aundrea Scott for seventh scoring 211.50.
The divers moved onto the 1-meter where Aundrea Scott showed a performance to move her up to fourth with a score of 217.35. Colman took sixth at 199.88 and Kayla Taylor placed eighth after a 155.78 final score.
Head coach Kunio Kono contributes today’s success over Northern Arizona to the depth and motivation of his team. He says, “The kids have been training really hard. I know each and every person here, swimmers and divers, are ready to compete. And they have a lot of confidence; they want to beat every single team. “
At one point during the meet, the Lobos were neck-in-neck with the Lumberjacks at 85 to 84. Kono says the team was able to push past the one point difference and ultimately take the win with thanks to the influence of his seniors’ leadership and overall strength for the team.
New Mexico has about a month before they compete again. However, their time from official meets will be far from a break as the Lobos are expecting hard training until the swimmers head to Columbia, Mo. for the Mizzou Invite on Thu, Nov. 20 and the divers to Tucson, Ariz. for the Wildcat Invitational. Both are all day events.
College Swimming News courtesy of New Mexico swim and dive.
