LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In another impressive day for the Northern Arizona swimming & diving team, the Lumberjack divers once again stole the show and the swimmers finished the second night of the UNLV Invitational strong. Sophomore Alexa Geiger won her second event of the weekend, leading the NAU charge on the 1-meter springboard and a host of NAU swimmers posted season-best swims in the night finals.

"Today was better than yesterday and overall it took us a little time to get into the meet," said head coach Andy Johns. "We had some strong events for us today. The team is racing well and tomorrow will be even better. I'm pleased with how they're competing."

To start the day, Geiger was the best diver at the invitational for the second consecutive day, placing first during the 1-meter preliminaries with a score of 258.35. She significantly upped her level in the finals to finish at the top of the leaderboard with a score of 287.10, marking the best 1-meter score by any Lumberjack diver this season.

The rest of the Lumberjack diving group followed suit as NAU placed all four of its divers in the championship final for the second straight day, ending their diving portion of the meet with a flurry. Junior Carlye Townsend and freshman Emma Simmonds completed an NAU sweep of the top three spots finishing second and third respectively with season-best scores. Townsend earned a score of 254.75 while Simmonds posted a score of 244.70. Freshman Alyssa Loeffelman placed seventh overall with a finals score of 220.70.

"I really feel like we're starting to put it all together after working hard to fix some mechanics," said diving coach Nikki Huffman. "We worked on trying to compete well and they all did a great job of competing today. We had some tough competition in UNLV and New Mexico, and this weekend was a good confidence boost for everyone. It shows that what we're working on is working. I couldn't be more proud of them."

Juniors Kendall Brown and Eva Pold posted the best performances among the NAU swimmers as they occupied half of the top four in the 400 IM finals. Brown moved up a pair of spots from the prelims to finish with season-best time of 4:22.75, which was nine seconds faster than her entry time and would currently be the third-fastest time in the WAC this season. Pold meanwhile finished in a tie for third with a time of 4:29.16 for her best career finish at the UNLV Invite.

NAU was represented by freshman Claire Hammond in the championship heat of the 200 freestyle, as she placed eighth overall with a time of 1:53.95. Freshman Alina Staffeldt won the consolation final of the 100 fly and finished ninth with a time of 55.60, which would have placed her sixth overall had she been in the 'A' final. Senior Alexis Juergens was two spots behind placing 11th with a time of 56.03 as the pair both improved on their preliminary standings.

In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Urte Kazakeviciute also won the consolation final with her fastest time of the season at 1:04.17. Her time was the fourth fastest among the night time swims. Freshman Melanie Harris also performed well in the 'B' heat placing 11th, dropping her season-best time down to 1:04.90. Also swimming in the night finals were freshman Audrey Mann and junior Cassie Ronai who finished 17th and 20th respectively.

In the final individual event, junior Lindsay Clark-Warren was NAU's top swimmer in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 58.77 to finish 14th overall. Sophomore Jori Lindquist also posted a season-best time of 57.86 to finish 18th.

NAU's 'A' 200 medley relay team finished fifth leading off the night finals as sophomore Sara Lenhoff, Kazakeviciute, Juergens and freshman Roni Houck recorded a time of 1:44.70 to set a new season-best in the event. To end the night, Brown, Pold, Staffeldt and Hammond comprised the Lumberjack 'A' team in the 800 free relay, placing seventh with a time of 7:40.88.

The Lumberjack swimmers will conclude the UNLV Invitational on Monday at the Buchanan Natatorium with prelims starting at 10 a.m. Flagstaff time. The finals will start at 5 p.m.