New Mexico State vs. Northern Colorado
- Las Cruces, New Mexico
- Oct. 5, 2019
- Northern Colorado def. New Mexico State 162-136
- Results
Courtesy: Northern Colorado Athletics
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – In their first conference meet of the season, Northern Colorado swimming and diving defeated New Mexico State 162-136. The Bears won 10 of the 15 events and finished in second in nine. UNC swept the top three spots in the 1000 free and 200 fly on their way to the meet win.
In the 1000 free Anna Austin led the way for the Bears finishing the race in 10:47.74 followed up by teammates Natalie Kayfes (10:50.50) and Holli Johnson (11:03.72). While Kayfes came in second in the 1000 free, she won the 500 free with a time of 5:15.49.
Austin was also a part of Northern Colorado’s top three sweep in the 200 fly, finishing in third place with a time of 2:08.64. Paula Núñez Blázquez won the event by touching the wall in 2:07.91 and Hallie Peterson finished in second place (2:08.23).
Núñez Blázquez was one of two Bears to win multiple events on the also taking first in the 200 back with a time of 2:07.05.
Maria Heymans was the other Bear a pair of individual wins in the 100 and 200 breast. She won the 100 with a time of 1:04.99 and 200 in 2:22.60.
Peterson was a part of the 200 medley relay team that began the winning ways for UNC. She was joined by teammates Maddy Moore, Heymans and Emily Hamel who finished the relay in 1:45.08.
Moore, Hamel and Petra Kis were the other four Bears to take first place on Saturday. Moore won the 100 free (52.24), Hamel the 50 free (23.93) and Kis the 200 IM (2:09.33).
On the diving board, Celest Llona earned the top finish for the team by taking second in the 1-meter with a score of 235.67 and third in the 3-meter dive by scoring a 216.45.
What They Said
Head Coach Lisa Ebeling
“I’m proud of the way our girls stepped up today. We have a lot of details that we need to clean up, but our goal was to swim tough and win the close races. They did that, so today was a good step in the direction we ultimately want to go.”
What’s Ahead
Northern Colorado comes home for its first home meet of the year next week. The Bears will face Northern Arizona in another WAC meet. The first event begins at 4 pm MT inside the Butler-Hancock Pool.
Courtesy: New Mexico State Athletics
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State swimming and diving team lost its season-opening meet to Western Athletic Conference rival Northern Colorado, 162-136, on Saturday afternoon at the Swimming and Diving Complex
The meet began with the Bears just out-touching NM State in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 145:08 to the Aggies’ 1:45.52. The Bears took the top three spots in the 1000 Free before Neza Kocijan picked up a win in the 200 Free with a time of 1:55.97. Anabel Ivanov then followed that up with a win of her own in the 100 Back (58.70).
However, Northern Colorado finished first in the 100 Breast, 200 Fly, 50 Free and 100 Free. Then, Ivanov nearly notched her second win of the afternoon in the 200 Back (2:07.29) but was edged out by UNC’s Paula Nunez (2:07.05).
The Bears then strung together first-place finishes in the 200 Breast and 500 Free before freshman Rachel Ponte picked up her first collegiate victory in the 100 Fly with a time of 57.48, just ahead of the Bears’ Madelyn Moore (57.88).
After UNC won the 200 IM, the Aggies wrapped up the meet with an impressive performance in the 400 Free Relay from Aimee Burton, Airam Oliva-Aun, Ivanov and Kocijan whose time of 3:30.87 was nearly six seconds faster than UNC’s second-place squad (3:30.87).
The diving events saw a dominant performance from freshman Italia Aranzabal who finished first in the 3m with a score of 264.60, 40 points ahead of second-place Lilly Ellis (220.43). Aranzabal also finished first in the 1m, beating out Northern Colorado’s Celeste Llona 239.85-235.87.
The Aggies return to the pool when they host Wyoming on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 11:30 a.m. (MT) at the Swimming and Diving Complex. As always, all NM state swimming and diving meets are free to attend.
