TUCSON, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona swimming & diving team returned to the pool on Friday and received a number of strong performances in a 154.5-137.5 loss to No. 17 Arizona. The defeat was only the Lumberjacks' second dual meet loss this season, while they also fared well against both Rice and New Mexico State who were also among the teams competing at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
 
"I liked the way our medley relay opened up the meet," said head coach Andy Johns. "Monique (King) and Alina (Staffeldt) were solid in their events and Sarah O'Connor swam pretty well too. It was a little rough here and there, but today really helps us get focused for the finish. It'll help to get back to a normal routine before we head to Colorado and we're in a good place as a team."
 
Among the notable swimmers were senior Alina Staffeldt, redshirt junior Monique King and freshman Sarah O'Connor. Staffeldt tied for first overall in the 200 fly (2:01.99) and placed fifth in the 100 fly (57.73). King's best finish was in the 500 freestyle where she posted a time of 4:58.78 to place second while she was also third in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:14.90. O'Connor also scored a pair of top four finishes in the backstrokes, placing third in the 100 (57.09) and fourth in the 200 (2:06.94).
 
The divers were also exceptional, especially given the lengthy break and limited training time leading up to Friday's meet, with junior Tatiana Kurach and freshman Jenny Cheetham leading the way. Kurach claimed first overall on 1-meter with a score of 303.50 in addition to placing fourth overall on 3-meter. Meanwhile, Cheetham was second overall – but first when looking at head-to-head results with Arizona – on 3-meter recording a season-high score of 280.05. Cheetham also placed fourth on 1-meter.
 
Juniors Raquel Gonzales and Christina Torrente also registered impressive finishes with Gonzales recording a fifth-place finish on 3-meter and Torrente placing third on 1-meter. On 3-meter, NAU had four of the top six divers, while the 'Jacks placed three of the top four overall on 1-meter.
 
"We only had five practices and that's not enough to get ready for a meet like this, but with what we were able to do they did an exceptional job," said diving coach Nikki Huffman. "The fact that Tatiana was able to put together meet like she did on 1-meter while being sick was fabulous. Jenny used two new dives and she was the winner against Arizona, which was impressive. Overall, we could've been better but they all did a great job."
 
The Lumberjacks opened the meet by placing fourth in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.99. Their 400 freestyle relay squad also placed fourth in the day's final event with a time of 3:34.25 Both of NAU's 'A' relays placed ahead of New Mexico's 'A' relays after finishing behind them in November during the team's official dual meet.
 
Other impressive results included freshman Hope Williams finishing sixth overall, and third versus Arizona, in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.47). Freshman Niamh McDonagh and junior Andrea Schmidt tied for fifth overall in the 200 fly with identical times of 2:07.11.
 
Staffeldt, McDonagh and Schmidt all finished ahead of Rice's best finisher in the 200 fly, as it was one of three events in which the Lumberjacks touched the wall before the Owls. King accounted for the other two in the two distance freestyle events.
 
NAU also finished ahead of New Mexico State in 12 of 16 events.
 
The team will split next weekend with the swimmers competing in dual meets at Colorado State and Northern Colorado on Jan. 12 and 13 respectively. While the swimmers are in Colorado, the divers will travel to Los Angeles for the three-day UCLA Bruin Diving Invitational from Jan. 12-14.