SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After two days at the WAC Championships, Northern Arizona swimming and diving sits in fifth place with 148 points. The Lumberjacks had five swimmers score in the three event finals that took place on Thursday night in the Josh Davis Natatorium.

“We did not swim up to expectations in the morning,” said head coach Andy Johns of the 18 NAU swimmers entered in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 50-yard freestyle. “We were slow out of the gate, but we are only through three sessions. We will be looking to improve tomorrow.”

Sophomore Kristin Jones and senior Kimber Morelli qualified for the finals in the 500-yard freestyle and both finished with season-best times. Jones placed 11th overall with a time of 5:00.67 and Morelli followed in 13th place at 5:01.50.

The following event was the 200-yard individual medley with NAU seeding four swimmers in the event. Freshman Fi Connell was listed with the 11th fastest seed time, but turned in a personal-best in the prelims to reach the championship final. She reset her personal-best in the final with a time of 2:04.47 and finished fifth.

The morning session closed with the 50-yard freestyle, the deepest event in the championship meet with 77 entrants. Senior Rachael Foe and junior Meredith Egloria each advanced to the consolation final and posted 15th and 16th place finishes, respectively. Foe swam 24.10 while Egloria turned in a time of 24.52.

“Kimber and Kristin swam fast and moved up,” said Johns of their finals' swims. “They had good swims today. Fi finished in fifth and also did well to move up and swim faster in both races. Rachael and Meredith kept their spots in the final swims.

“Tomorrow is a big day. There are five individual swimming events and one diving event. There are a lot of points still out there.”

Friday's morning preliminary session will start at 10 a.m. (MST) with the 400-yard individual medley. The event will be followed by the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, and 100-yard backstroke. Diving will resume at noon (MST) with the 1-meter springboard.

WAC Championship Standings

DID YOU KNOW…Northern Arizona swimming and diving has been recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for its academic excellence in the classroom. The women earned the Division I Team Scholar All-American award for the fifth time under head coach Andy Johns in 2010.