FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 17, 2018) – Day two of the Lumberjack Invite took place on Nov.17 in Flagstaff with both the swimming and diving team participating. Day two marked the final day of action for the swimming team as they finished off the two-day invitational in first place over New Mexico State and Arizona Christian University. On the boards, diving wrapped up the 1-meter dive for the invitation with five divers making the finals with
Christina Torrente finishing as the highest placed Lumberjack in second.
Swimming Invite
Following the record-breaking first day of the invitational, the Lumberjacks were able to continue the momentum from the first day and break several more record in the seven events on day two. In the second day of the invitational, the 'Jacks were able to win four of the seven races.
In the first race of the invite,
Katy Smith beat out fellow Lumberjack
Monique King for first place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.72. King followed this up with a time of 1:52.59. The win by Smith marks her first individual event win in her Lumberjack career.
Northern Arizona's next win came in the 200 butterfly where
Andrea Schmidt took first. Schmidt has had great success in her senior season as the win marked her third of the season. Other Lumberjacks that had impressive results in this event were
Maddie Seidl and
Keeley Vardeman. Seidl finished second with a time of 2:06.11 while Vardeman finished the event with a time of 2:07.60.
In the 50 freestyle, the NAU record books were forever changed as
Elisa Rodriguez set an NAU record-breaking time of 22.91. This time was a special moment for the 'Jack as it has been a record that she has been aiming for since arriving in Flagstaff in the fall of 2017. The freshmen
Clara Foster and Smith also had success in the 50 freestyle as they placed third and fourth with times of 24.21 and 24.24.
Another Aquatic Center record fell in the following event when
Sarah Takach placed first in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:06.95. This time broke the previous record held by fellow Lumberjack
Niamh McDonagh from the 2017-2018 season.
NAU was able to cap off a record-breaking invite with a win in the final event of the day the 400 freestyle relay. The winning relay team for the 'Jacks consisted of
Erin Spielman, Rodriguez, King, and Smith. The group finished the race with a time of 3:25.77.
"From here it's all about preparing and competing to get ready for the Western Athletic Conference Championship," NAU swimming coach
Andy Johns said. "That is always the biggest goal of the year and hopefully after that getting some of the girls to National events after that."
Diving Invite
The Lumberjack divers were back in action in the invite competing in the 1-meter event. The event started with 15 divers competing in the qualifying portion with the top 12 moving onto the finals. The Lumberjacks had five of their divers advance. With the finals ending for the 1-meter, the top NAU diver was Torrente who was in second place with a score of 551.80. Not far behind her was
Jenny Cheetham who finished with a score of 515.70 and
Emily Sharrer in sixth with a score of 475.90. The 'Jacks were able to find more success in day two of the invite compared to day one because of the consistency in the final dives compared to the day before.
"I was very pleased with everyone's performances today," NAU swimming coach
Nikki Huffman said. "There could have been a couple of dives that were better, but that's what we are here for, to get better and train to compete well."
Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will not be back in action until heading to Florida to face off against Florida Atlantic on December 20.
