New Mexico State vs New Mexico (Women)
- Saturday, January 28, 2023
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Score: NM State 200, New Mexico 100
Courtesy: NM State Sports
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Following some time off, the Aggies returned to the pool in impressive fashion as they doubled up their rival – defeating New Mexico 200-100 on Saturday.
Lindsay Puhalski’s three first-place finishes highlighted the Aggies’ victory as she claimed the top spot in the 200 free (1:55.19) and 200 IM (2:09.45) while also securing a new personal best on her way to claiming gold in the 200 breaststroke.
Freshman Thea Masselink also submitted a strong trio of performances as she reached the wall first in the 100 back with a time of 58.66 while picking up the top spot in the 200 back (2:05.52) before finishing just behind Puhalski in the 200 IM with a time of 2:14.52.
Like Masselink, Naomi Slee also tallied a pair of first-place finishes against the Lobos. Slee notched the best time in both the 500 free (5:09.37) and 1000 free (10:34.75).
Meanwhile, four other Aggies also secured gold in their respective events during the dominant win over New Mexico. Estel Galo was the fastest swimmer in the 200 fly (2:12.08), senior Aimee Burton posted a win in the 100 free (52.51), Kate Malinowski finished first in the 1-meter diving event (245.25) and Italia Aranzabal placed first in the 3-meter dive (275.03).
The Aggies also performed well in the relay events as NM State groups were first in both the 400 medley relay and 200 free relay. In the 400 medley relay, the team of Thea Masselink, Aimee Burton, Rachel Ponte and Lindsay Puhalski combined for a time of 3:55.36. Meanwhile, the quartet of Aimee Burton, Kira Brownell, Emilee Ferrari and Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt teamed up to post a time of 1:36.95 to claim first in the 200 free relay.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
“Today was a great showing on the road and we’re in a strong place headed into the WAC Championship meet. Much of our team showed a lot of progress with their strategies and technique and, overall, we competed with a lot of grit and determination. Moving forward, we’re going to keep fine-tuning our skills while celebrating the hard work this team has done.”
UP NEXT
This was the penultimate regular season meet for the Aggie divers as they prepare for a trip to Colorado Springs for the Air Force Diving Invite on Feb. 2-4 ahead of the WAC Championships. Meanwhile, the NM State swimmers will now ready for the WAC Championships from February 23 to February 26 in Pharr, Texas.
Courtesy: New Mexico Athletics
Albuquerque, N.M. – The University of New Mexico swimming and diving team lost to their bitter rival New Mexico State on Saturday by a score of 171-124. This was New Mexico’s 2022-23 season senior meet, in which three Lobos were honored.
Maddie Deucher, a backstroker from El Paso, Tex., was one of three Lobo seniors honored before the first swimming event on Saturday. Deucher, who swam at Kentucky before joining the New Mexico program, swam in four events in her penultimate meet donning the cherry and silver. She swam in both the 400-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay in addition to the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.04) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:19.51).
Josie Carpenter, the other Lobos’ swimmer honored at the senior-meet festivities, also competed in four events in her final dual meet before representing New Mexico one final time at the Mountain West Conference Championship Meet next month. Carpenter, a Greely, Colo., native, also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay on Saturday, as well as the 1000-yard freestyle (11:17.59), the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.34), and the 500-yard freestyle (5:28.89). She swam as a Lobo for her whole collegiate career.
The Lobos’ lone diver to be honored before Saturday’s meet was senior Vivian Spates, an Albuquerque, N.M., native, who also competed for the Lobos for her entire collegiate career. She dove in both diving events in the meet, scoring 180.60 off the 1-meter board and 187.50 off the 3-meter board.
New Mexico (2-7, 0-4 MW) won four events during the meet, with their first victory coming in the fifth event of the day. Freshman Maya Clise won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.41) with senior Ola Tomaszek finishing just behind her in second place (1:07.14).
The Lobos’ next event win came in another one-two finish, this time courtesy of strong swims in the 50-yard freestyle by junior Marina Olmstead (24.58) and junior Jordan Foster (24.72). The first four finishers in the event were separated by just under four-tenths of a second.
Olmstead and Foster finished in first and second places, yet again, in the 100-yard butterfly. Olmstead won the event (58.99) with Foster closely in tow (59.39).
New Mexico’s final event win came in the final event of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay. The winning relay consisted of sophomore Katy McCarter, Olmstead, sophomore Brynn Quintana, and Foster.
Junior Kristen Hepfer was the Lobos’ top finisher in each of the two diving events on Saturday, placing second in both. She scored 237.98 off the 1-meter board and 250.95 off the 3-meter board. This is the second consecutive dual meet in which Hepfer has led all Lobos in scoring in both diving events.
New Mexico’s divers will be back in action from Feb. 2-5, competing at the Northern Arizona Diving Invitational. This will be their final tuneup before joining the Lobos’ swimmers at the Mountain West Conference Championship Meet from Feb. 15-18, in Houston, Tex..
