Northern Arizona Swimming Holds Intrasquad Meet

Photo Courtesy: NAU Athletics

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, October 11. Fresh faces performed well, but it was seniors Alexis Juergens and Caitlin Wright who shined the brightest on Friday in the Northern Arizona swimming & diving team’s annual Blue vs. Gold Meet. The two Lumberjack seniors each won two events, but it was Juergens’ Gold team who was victorious in the intrasquad meet, holding off the Blue team by a 54-50 score.

“It was a good meet for this time of the season,” said head coach Andy Johns. “I liked the way they competed and it was a good showing for what we’ve been doing in training. It’s hard to practice every day and not have a chance to race because racing is fun. We need to get better for two weeks (against New Mexico), but they should have confidence with where they are.”

The Gold team gained the early edge on the scoreboard winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:59.32, but the Blue team’s distance duo of Wright and freshman Kimmy Richter went one-two for the first of two races in the following event – the 200 free. The Gold team proceeded to win the next five individual events though with Juergens winning both the 50 free and 150 fly, edging out the Blue team’s freshman Alina Staffeldt for both victories. Junior Kendall Brown won the 200 IM and freshman Roni Houck took first in the 100 free, while junior Chelsea Jackson posted the top score of 305.55 on the 3-meter springboard.

Following Houck’s victory in the 100 free, the Gold held a commanding 40-21 lead, before the Blue team turned the tide with junior Brooke Brittain’s win in the 150 back with a time of 1:44.27. Wright followed with her second win in the 400 free, teaming with Richter’s second-place finish to close the Blue gap to 44-35 heading into the final diving break. At the break, sophomore Alexa Geiger won the 1-meter event with a score of 282.00, which put the Blue team behind by eight points, 48-40 going into the final two events.

Sophomore Urte Kazakeviciute’s time of 1:56.29 dominated the 150 breaststroke though by more than three seconds and put the meet out of reach despite the Blue team winning the final 200 free relay with a time of 1:51.39.

“Everyone did great,” Wright said. “I had a few freshmen on my (Blue) team and it was fun to see them race. They were nervous for their first meet of the season, but they excelled and I was excited to see that. We’re starting to mesh as a team and we have a lot of newcomers. We’re getting to know each other’s racing styles and we’ll take that away from this meet.”

Friday marked the NAU divers’ season debut and they did not disappoint. The team’s three returners – Jackson, Geiger and junior Carlye Townsend – occupied the top-three spots in both diving events, but as a whole the unit performed well given their first competitive dives off the board this fall.

“I thought the divers performed very well,” said diving coach Nikki Huffman. “Some were out because of injuries during the week and some did new dives, so overall it was an excellent performance. All five of them did great things. I hope they take confidence away from today and they should feel good about what we’ve been doing the last few weeks. They looked excited to compete and they know what to work on mentally and physically so we’re ready to go for Albuquerque in two weeks.”

Houck was the only freshmen to win an individual event – and also swam the anchor leg of the Gold team’s medley relay quartet – but several other freshmen had solid days. Richter and Staffeldt posted a pair of runner-up finishes, as did Audrey Mann in the 100 free.

However, the seniors led the way which was a welcome sign for a team with 10 freshmen heading into their first dual meet in two weeks.

“It’s great to see the seniors lead by example,” Johns said. “They showed their experience and veteran fortitude. They raced well and got their hand on the wall in the short races. Caitlin took control of both of her races and it was nice to see to that from our seniors.”

Results: NAU Intrasquad

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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