ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (October 26, 2018) – The Northern Arizona women's swimming and diving team started their season with a 186-114 loss to the University of New Mexico on Oct. 26. The Lumberjacks finished the day winning just four of the 16 events.
"Overall I liked the effort and attitude that we showed today as we were dealing with injuries and illnesses," NAU head swimming coach
Andy Johns said. "We are going to have to keep getting better."
The Lumberjacks fell behind early as the Lobos took first place in the first four events of the meet with NAU taking second place in three of them. In just four events the 'Jacks already had a huge gap to close as they had fell behind by 30 points, 52-22.
It wasn't until the fifth event when
Hope Williams was finally able to seal a nine-point victory for the Lumberjacks in the 100 breaststroke. At this point, NAU trailed 62-31.
Northern Arizona closed the gap on New Mexico in the 200 butterfly when
Maddie Seidl finished the race in first place. The win got NAU 10 points, nine from Seidl and one from a fifth-place finish from
Clara Foster. Following the 200 butterfly, the Lumberjacks trailed the Lobos, 70-42.
NAU's next win came in the 3-meter when the diving team tallied 14 of the 19 total points.
Christina Torrente placed first,
Tatiana Kurach placed second and Jennifer Cheetham finished fifth. This dominating performance allowed the 'Jacks to get back into the meet as they closed the gap by nine points in this event.
Unfortunately, it was all UNM from here on out as they won the next five events including the 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
The 'Jacks were finally able to win their fourth and last win of the day in the 1-meter. The dive team took the top three places in the 1 –meter event scoring 16 of the possible 19 points. In this event, the 'Jacks placed Kurach, Torrente and Cheetham.
"I am proud of all of their performances, but there are always things we need to work on moving forward," NAU diving coach
Nikki Huffman said.
Northern Arizona would end up losing the final two events of the meet, the 200 individual medley and the 400 freestyle relay to New Mexico.
The Lumberjacks will be back on the road in Pullman, Wash. against Washington State on Friday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. MST. The team will look to win their first meet of the 2018-19 season.
