FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. and LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Northern Arizona swimming & diving team opened up the weekend with positive results at their respective meets on Friday. The Lumberjack swimmers posted four event wins on the first day of their dual meet with New Mexico State. On the first day of the Lumberjack Diving Invitational, NAU placed three divers in the 1-meter finals.
 
NAU won a pair of events in both of Friday's sessions in Las Cruces, and will go into the Saturday's dual meet conclusion trailing New Mexico State, 134-88.
 
"The team scoring may not reflect it, but it was a good day overall," said head coach Andy Johns. "We had really good swims and we had a lot of people post lifetime swims. Really, it's about racing right now and posting good times. They're a little better than we are right now, but it's good competition and it should be good tomorrow."
 
The 'Jacks started the meet with a bang by sweeping the top three spots in the 1,650 freestyle – the day's first event. Redshirt junior Monique King was at the head of the one-two-three finish with a winning time of 17.04.87 with freshman Sam Milewski and senior Kimmy Richter behind her. All three Lumberjacks finished ahead of the Aggies' top finisher by nearly 30 seconds with King setting a new pool record.
 
Junior Andrea Schmidt also set a new pool record, which was previously held by senior Alina Staffeldt who finished second, with a lifetime-best time of 2:00.98 to win the 200 butterfly for NAU's second win of the morning. Schmidt's time moved her up to third all-time in school history. Sophomore Kate Bier placed fourth and freshman Maddie Seidl made it four Lumberjacks in the top five of the 200 fly.
 
NAU received a third individual win from junior Sarah Takach in the evening with a dominant performance in the 400 individual medley. Takach, who also placed third in the 200 breaststroke and fourth in the 100 breast, clocked not only a career-best time, but the fifth fastest 400 IM time in program history, of 4:22.86 to win by almost five full seconds. NAU capped the night with a win in the 200 freestyle relay with Schmidt, freshman Elisa Rodriguez, senior Roni Houck and Staffeldt touching the wall in a time of 1:35.75.
 
Other highlights included Richter, King and Milewski claiming the second, third and fourth spots in the 200 free, and freshman Hope Williams placing second in the 100 breast. Williams' posted a time of 1:03.63 which places her fifth in school history.
 
Back in Flagstaff, NAU was one of three teams, along with Arizona State and Nevada, to place a trio of divers in the 1-meter finals and were led by junior Tatiana Kurach, who placed fifth overall with a score of 573.35. After posting a prelims score of 285.65, which had her in sixth following the qualifying round, Kurach improved her final position by a spot.
 
"There were a lot of positives even though a lot of them couldn't really find their groove today," said diving coach Nikki Huffman. "Tatiana, Christina and Jenny all had great prelims and were consistent, but I was really proud of all of them. There were only three teams to have three divers in the finals, so today was really good."
 
Sophomore Christina Torrente and freshman Jenny Cheetham joined Kurach in the finals and wound up in 10th and 11th respectively. Torrente posted a two-round score of 539.55 while Cheetham, in her first collegiate meet, tallied a score of 533.95. With her prelim score of 282.55, Cheetham qualified for the NCAA Zone E Championships.
 
Also diving for the 'Jacks were junior Olivia Payne and freshman Katie Conn. Payne finished in 22nd and Conn was five spots back in 27th.
 
The Lumberjack Diving Invitational continues with the 3-meter competition at 11 a.m. MST Saturday morning in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex. The swimmers will wrap up their two-day meet with New Mexico State, also at 11 a.m. MST.