FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – As they do every season to start the New Year, the Northern Arizona swimming & diving team will kick off 2018 in Tucson on Friday versus Arizona. The annual dual meet, scheduled for a 12 p.m. start, will mark the 13th consecutive year that the Lumberjacks and Wildcats will convene at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
 
"It's another opportunity to compete high-level opponents," said head coach Andy Johns. "We're going to do a few different things with some different people. That gives us an opportunity to evaluate as we approach the end of the year as it gets us ready for the stretch."
 
Arizona, currently ranked No. 14 in the CollegeSwimming Dual Meet rankings and No. 17 in the CSCAA Coaches Poll, defeated NAU last year in Tucson by a 178-118 score. However, the 60-point margin was the Lumberjacks' closest defeat since 2007 and the meet was their most successful in years based on their five overall event wins.
 
The Lumberjacks' five event wins was a huge improvement from just one overall win the year prior. Of those five event wins, NAU returns two winners in senior Alina Staffeldt and junior Tatiana Kurach who won the 200 butterfly and 1-meter springboard. Staffeldt and Kurach also claimed first against Arizona when the Wildcats visited Flagstaff earlier in October 2016.
 
NAU returns to the pool after a hiatus for the holidays. Prior to the holidays, the Lumberjacks knocked off San Diego, 174-100, on Dec. 16 to improve to 4-1 in dual meets. The 'Jacks collected 11 event wins versus the Toreros with senior Kimmy Richter and freshman Sarah O'Connor each winning two events. Freshman Jenny Cheetham posted her first career dual meet victory in the only diving event.
 
The fall semester was a success for the Lumberjacks besides the four dual meet wins. On the swimming side, NAU continues to have at least one athlete in the WAC's top eight top times in every event including conference-leading times by Richter (200 freestyle), redshirt junior Monique King (500, 1,000 and mile freestyles) and Staffeldt (200 fly). King nabbed WAC Swimmer of the Week honors after the Texas Invitational where NAU posted a number of all-time best times.
 
The divers have been led by Kurach and junior Christina Torrente, both of whom have been named WAC Diver of the Week. Along with the pair, junior Raquel Gonzales, junior Olivia Payne and Cheetham have all already posted NCAA Zone Qualifying scores.
 
The Lumberjacks hope to start off the stretch run to the WAC Championships strong on Friday versus the nationally-ranked Wildcats, who owns a 3-1 dual meet record. What will differ this year will be the exclusion of Oregon State, who joined NAU and Arizona for the double dual in each of the past 12 years.
 
In Oregon State's place will be Rice and fellow WAC rival New Mexico State, although the Lumberjacks will not score against either team. Although NAU will not score against Rice and New Mexico State, the addition of both of these teams will raise the already high level of competition between the lanes and on the springboards.