New Mexico Swimming And Diving Snaps Streak Against Northern Arizona With Win

Photo Credit: New Mexico Athletics

ALBUQUERQUE – New Mexico swimming and diving snapped its losing streak against Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon, topping the Lumberjacks by 40 points in a 170-130 dual meet win.

New Mexico Press Release

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.

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.

Northern Arizona Press Release

The Northern Arizona swimming & diving team won seven of the 14 individual events on Saturday in their dual-season opener, but suffered a 170-130 loss to New Mexico in the Seidler Natatorium. Junior Chelsea Jackson swept the two diving events and freshman Alina Staffeldt captured both butterfly events for the Lumberjacks, as New Mexico returned the favor after NAU won last season’s meeting between the two teams.

“Diving was a bright spot winning both events and going one-two-three on 1-meter,” said head coach Andy Johns. “That gave us a nice lead, but the 500 free was a turning point when they won the event. It was awesome to see Alina Staffeldt win both of the butterflies. We learned a lot and we have to get a lot better in the next two weeks before we head up to the Pacific Northwest, but that’s what racing is all about.”

With diving being completed before the swimming events started, the Lumberjacks got out to a nice 30-8 lead with Jackson’s pair of victories. She won the 1-meter with a score of 283.43 and followed with a 3-meter winning score of 285.75. But Jackson was not the only diver to shine as the team’s other returners – sophomore Alexa Geiger and junior Carlye Townsend – provided a boost, especially on the 1-meter board by completing an NAU sweep of the top-three spots.

New Mexico took the top-two spots to open the swimming events in the 200 medley relay before junior Kendall Brown dominated on her way to a win in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:28.79, more than seven seconds faster than her nearest competitor. Freshman Claire Hammond followed with her first dual meet win in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.64, just edging out UNM’s Fanni Pataki by .13 of a second, until the Lobos claimed wins in the 100 back and 100 breast.

Staffeldt stopped the New Mexico run with her first of two wins in the 200 fly with a time of 2:05.77, but New Mexico responded by taking the top-three spots in the 50 free. The Lobos continued with wins in the 100 free and 200 back, but sophomore Urte Kazakeviciute’s time of 2:22.89 was good to win the 200 breast.

Although NAU placed three swimmers – Brown, freshman Kimmy Richter and senior Caitlin Wright – in the top-four of the 500 free, New Mexico placed the fastest swimmer in the event, finishing the meet with three wins in the final four swimming events. Staffeldt’s 100 fly win with a time of 56.86 was the lone Lumberjack victory to close out the meet.

“We got swept too many times and we couldn’t overcome it,” Johns said. “I’m proud of the girls’ efforts though and we’ll get back to work on Monday.”

NAU takes the next week off from competition and will prepare for a tough road trip to the Northwest with dual meets against the WAC runner-up Idaho and Pac-12 foe Washington State on Nov. 7 and 8.

Results: Northern Arizona vs. New Mexico

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