Kendall Brown Wins Northern Arizona Pentathlon

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, September 19. JUNIOR Kendall Brown put together a solid all-around performance to win the Northern Arizona swimming & diving team’s annual Pentathlon on Friday, in the team’s debut showing for the 2014-15 season. The Pentathlon tested the team’s endurance and versatility in the five-event intrasquad meet and also served as a successful debut for the NAU freshmen in their first collegiate racing setting.

“This event is designed for a medley swimmer and is distance-oriented as Kendall and Monica (Pruett) are,” said head coach Andy Johns. “For Jori (Lindquist), it speaks a lot to where she is right now and that’s good to see. I was also really pleased with both Alexis (Juergens) and Alina (Staffeldt) breaking the old standard in the 100 fly.”

With NAU’s decorated senior class from a season ago departed, the Pentathlon was an opportunity for the team’s returning contributors to step into the spotlight. Brown, the two-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion in the 1,650 freestyle, shined the brightest, totaling 3,580 points to win the meet despite not claiming first in any of the five events. The Aliso Viejo, Calif. product recorded a best finish of fourth in the 100 backstroke and also notched a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly.

Junior Monica Pruett, second for the meet behind Brown with 3,410 points, got the day started with a first-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:28.93. A pair of freshmen – Melanie Harris and Audrey Mann – rounded out the top-three right off the blocks.

Next followed the 100 butterfly, which senior Alexis Juergens won for the second consecutive Pentathlon with a time of 1:03.48. Freshman Alina Staffeldt posted a sensational time of 1:03.62, just edged out by Juergens, as the pair both broke the previous Pentathlon butterfly record of 1:03.95.

Junior Brooke Brittain won the closely contested 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.81, with returners Lindsay Clark-Warren and Sara Lenhoff taking the next two spots behind her. Meanwhile coming off a stellar WAC Championship showing to cap off her first season, sophomore Urte Kazakeviciute took first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:15.34, just a little more than a half a second faster than Harris, who posted her second runner-up showing of the day.

Finally in the day’s last event, Staffeldt posted the fastest time in the 100 freestyle of 1:00.05 as one of three freshmen in the top-four of the event. Claire Hammond (second) and Kimberly Richter (fourth) concluded the day with strong performances.

After Brown and Pruett in the overall standings, sophomore Jori Lindquist placed third with 3,300 points, but if the last event was any indication, the highlight of the day was the performance of the team’s freshmen group. Seven different first-year Lumberjacks recorded at least one top-five finish among the five events led by Harris’ two runner-up finishes. Staffedt and Audrey Mann also notched a pair of top-five nods.

“It was real nice to see the freshmen take three of the top-four in the freestyle,” Johns said. “With everything we lost, to see the freshmen come in and be solid in their first true test is a good sign of where we are. I’m really pleased with all of their efforts and I’m looking forward to another week of training.”

The Lumberjack divers will join in on the action and make their season debuts during the team’s Blue vs. Gold meet on Oct. 10. The second intrasquad meet will be the final preseason event for NAU leading up to the team’s season-opener at New Mexico on Oct. 25.

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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