FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 21, 2018) – Sophomore Niamh McDonagh repeated as the back-to-back winner of the Northern Arizona swimming Pentathlon. McDonagh totaled 3,670 points on the afternoon, although only winning one event, the 200m individual medley.
"I am not surprised that she won but I am pleasantly surprised that most of her swims were faster than they were last year, which is a great sign," NAU head coach Andy Johns said. "I think she will have a lot of company in the next few weeks with the other girls as we get closer to season."
For the second year in a row McDonagh was able to be beat out redshirt senior Monique King, the winner of the 2016 Pentathlon. King scored 3,570 points with three top five finishes in the 200m IM, 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle. Junior Kate Bier was able to move up the board this year as she placed third overall with 3,280 point, finishing in the top five in the 200m IM and 100m butterfly.
The first event of the Pentathlon was the 200m IM where McDonagh came out on top while hitting a personal best 2:24.8. She was able to beat out the newcomers Astrid Villeda and Keeley Vardeman, who both finished just under four seconds behind her.
"I worked on my IM, with my back to breast turn in order to get a faster version of it and it translated cleanly," McDonagh said.
The next event was the 100m butterfly where senior Andrea Schmidt took home first place as she finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of Bier. Behind Bier, sophomore Maddie Seidl was able to take third as she finished with a time of 1:07.01.
Junior Fernanda Montiel was able to take the backstroke over last year's winner sophomore Sarah O'Connor in the third event of the day. Montiel finished the race with a time of 1:06.28, which was faster than the best time of 2017. King was able to finish this race third with a time of 1:08.46.
Sophomore Hope Williams won the 100m breaststroke, her first Pentathlon event win of her career. She finished with a time of 1:16.97. McDonagh and newcomer Clara Foster were able to take second and third in this event.
The final event of the Pentathlon was the 100m freestyle where sophomore Elisa Rodriguez was able to pull out the win over King by just .08 of a second. Right behind King in this event was newcomer Katy Smith.
"We had some returners who were better than they have been in previous years," Johns said. "The freshmen looked good. Now we have a point to move forward on going into the year. It's time to work on a little more fitness, a little more conditioning and some strength.
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. 5 at 2 p.m. in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex.
