Northern Arizona Hosts Blue-Gold Intrasquad

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, October 12. A tie in the last event of the day, the 200 freestyle relay, concluded a highly competitive Blue-Gold meet and gave the Gold team a narrow 52.5-51.5 win in the squad's annual intrasquad event. Senior diver Kristy Ardavanis and junior swimmer Rachel Palmer each won two events as the meet came down to the final race.

“The results speak to the depth and the balance of the team,” head coach Andy Johns said. “We have great leadership throughout all of the classes and we have a lot of competitive people. We saw improvement from the pentathlon and had some different events today, but everyone is getting better.”

Ardavanis swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions for the second consecutive year, scoring 321.38 on 3-meter and 312.68 on 1-meter. Junior Gwen Smithberg, who with Ardavanis led the diving effort of the Blue team, placed second on 3-meter at 301.65 and tied with freshman Carlye Townsend for third place on 1-meter with a 268.13 total. Sophomore Katie Dallmann was second on 1-meter and third on 3-meter.

The Gold team opened the swimming competition with a winning time of 2:00.62 in the 200 medley relay. Junior Emma Lowther followed with a win in the 200 freestyle in 2:07.62 and senior Kelsey Loy scored for the Blue team with a 26.81 winning time in the 50 free. Palmer earned her first win in 2:24.69 in the 200 individual medley than followed with a win in the 150 butterfly in 1:42.14.

After the Blue team took a slim lead following Palmer's wins, the Gold won the four remaining individual races. Freshman Ellie Morrissey touched first in the 100 free in 59.29 and senior Fi Connell followed for a Gold win in the 150 back in 1:43.80. Sophomore Caitlin Wright earned the win in the 400 free in 4:31.65 and the individual races concluded with junior Jordan Burnes winning the 150 breast in 1:57.95.

That left the 200 free relay as the final race with the Gold team holding a one point lead. The Blue quartet of Loy, sophomore Alexis Juergens, freshman Molly Elkins, and Palmer fell behind early but closed strong. The Gold team opened with sophomore Alex Huff followed by Morrissey and Wright, with Lowther closing against Palmer and the pair touching at the same time of 1:49.65 to split the points for the race and give the slight win to Gold.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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