FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Freshman Niamh McDonagh dethroned redshirt junior Monique King for the overall Pentathlon crown on Friday, totaling 3,720 points while winning both the 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke. McDonagh's performance was one of many strong debuts by the Northern Arizona swimming freshmen in the kick-off to the 2017-18 season.
 
"We had a lot of great racing and efforts and their attitudes were great," said head coach Andy Johns. "That's really what we're looking for this early. We haven't practiced on this course all year and it's difficult to swim on a different course and race all of a sudden. Niamh winning was nice to see and as a team they're in a good spot."
 
McDonagh, an IM specialist, proved to be well-suited for the grueling multi-event and multi-stroke meet. In addition to her two event wins, she also placed fourth in the 100m butterfly and fifth in the 100m backstroke.
 
"For my first meet with the team, it was really exciting," McDonagh said. "There's great energy when racing with and against them. (Being an IM swimmer) gave me a foundation and made training easier, although this meet is really hard. Training is getting harder, but I'm excited to get stronger."
 
She became the third straight newcomer to win the Pentathlon, knocking off King from the top spot to do so. King was the runner-up with 3,620 points behind second-place finishes in the IM and the 100m freestyle. Senior Kimmy Richter placed third overall with 3,390 points and provided the exclamation point to the meet by breaking Emma Lowther's Pentathlon freestyle record with a time of 58.56. Lowther's previous record of 59.01 was set in 2013.
 
Swimming in the last heat, McDonagh posted a blazing IM time of 2:25.34 – more than four seconds faster than King's second-place time – to easily win the first event. Sophomore Kate Bier placed third. Richter pulled off an upset in the butterfly, clocking a winning time of 1:04.24 to edge out senior Alina Staffeldt, who set the meet record just a year ago. Junior Andrea Schmidt finished third in the butterfly.
 
Freshman Sarah O'Connor cruised to a win the backstroke with a time of 1:06.53, besting sophomore Fernanda Montiel and King both by more than two seconds. McDonagh's breaststroke time of 1:17.09 was just faster than freshman Sam Seiber and senior Audrey Mann by less than a second.
 
Richter's record-setting swim capped the afternoon in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex as she finished ahead of King and senior Roni Houck in the freestyle.
 
The 22nd annual Pentathlon was an ideal glimpse at both the team's present and the future. McDonagh and King finishing at the top provides a jolt to the four-time defending WAC Champions with neither competing at the championships last year. O'Connor, Seiber and freshmen Elisa Rodriguez and Lauren Hazel also swam well in their specialties on Friday.
 
Meanwhile, Richter, junior Sarah Takach (fourth overall) and Bier (fifth overall) were the top returners. Staffeldt and Montiel both were runner-ups in their primary strokes while Houck, Mann and Schmidt were all third.
 
"This is not a normal meet for any of our swimmers," Johns said. "For Kimmy to be as strong as she was in the last event really says a lot about where she is. I'm really pleased with this start to the season."
 
The divers, who did not participate in the swimming-only Pentathlon, will make their debuts during NAU's annual Blue vs. Gold meet on Friday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex.