RESULTS (PDF)
GREELEY, Colo. (October 18, 2019) – Northern Arizona University women's swimming and diving won its first regular season meet against its Western Athletic Conference opponent, Northern Colorado, 157.5-142.5.
"The meet today was really close, a really tight match," head coach
Andy Johns said. "There was a lot of back and forth between the two teams."
Proving to be true, the Bears won seven of the 16 events with really close times in each one. In the first event, the 400 medley relay, UNC took first, owning a 3:35.97 time.
Sarah O'Connor,
Hope Williams,
Maddie Seidl and
Elisa Rodriguez took second with a 3:53.19 time. The Bears earned 13 points during this event, with the 'Jacks just earning four.
Astrid Villeda and
Haley Mayhew posted first and second place in the next event, the 1000 freestyle. Villeda recorded a time of 10:38.39, with Mayhew just milliseconds behind her at 10:38.64.
Sam Milewski finished in fourth with a time of 10:56.71. NAU received 15 points for this event, tying with UNC 15-15.
Northern Colorado took the lead again after winning first in the 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 100 breaststroke.
Erin Spielman was third in the 200 free with a time of 1:57.40, just .17 milliseconds behind UNC's Paula Nunez. Fernana Montiel earned second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58:49. UNC took the top two spots again in the 100 breaststroke, with
Hope Williams taking third with a time of 1:06.75.
Seidl broke UNC's three event winning streak by swimming a 2:08.80 200 butterfly, beating UNC's Petra Kris by about three-fourths of a second (2:09.57). The Bears did come back to win first in the 50 free, but Rodriguez earned second place with a time of 24.14.
After Northern Colorado won in the 50 freestyle, the 'Jacks took control of the next five events: 1-meter diving, 100 free, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke and 500 free.
In both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards (event 14),
Emily Sharrer and
Emily Luberto took first and second. Sharrer posted first in both with a 1-meter score of 277.35 and a 3-meter score of 252.45. Luberto's second place was earned from a 1-meter score of 258.83 and a 3-meter score of 251.18. The 'Jacks beat UNC by a differential of 0.45 in the 1-meter and 54.23 in the 3-meter.
Halfway through the meet, Northern Colorado was 80-70 over the 'Jacks. However, the lead did not last long.
The Lumberjacks equalized the score after winning three more events: the 100 free, 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. Rodriguez won the 100 free earning a time of 51.72.
Erin Spielman tied in fourth with UNC's Emily Hamel with a time of 55.06 in this event. In the 200 backstroke, Montiel won first with a time of 2:06.67. NAU filled in sixth and seventh as well, with O'Connor in sixth and
Lauren Hazel seventh.
Sara Jendbro and
Clara Foster earned the tying points in the 200 breaststroke, with Jendbro posting first with a time of 2:23.33 and Foster in fourth with a time of 2:30.57.
In the 500 free, Mayhew and Villeda secured first and second positions. Mayhew finished with a 5:13.68 time and Villeda finished at 5:14.12. Milewski placed fourth with a time of 5:20.57.
Northern Colorado won two more events: the 100 butterfly and the 200 freestyle relay. In the 100 butterfly, NAU took three of the five top spots. Seidl came in second with a time of 58:74, Bier took third clocking in at 59:24 and
Natalie Dinch earned one point with a time of 1:01.41. In the 200 free relay, UNC took first, but the Lumberjacks took second and third. Spielman, Rodriguez, Montiel and Hick swam their relay with a 1:38.40 time. Foster, Abby Nelson, Hazel and O'Connor earned their third-place spot with a 1:39.95 time.
Niamh McDonagh helped to clinch the win for the Lumberjacks in the 200 individual medley. McDonagh placed first with a time of 2:10.04. Mayhew came in third, swimming a 2:10.53 time. Jendbro followed behind Mayhew in fourth with a time of 1:12.76.
Northern Arizona secured a 157.5-142.5 win over Northern Colorado.
"Our girls showed a lot of toughness," Johns said. "We're happy and fortunate to come away with a win today."
The 'Jacks will continue competing tomorrow as they take on Air Force and Colorado State in a double-dual meet in Colorado Springs, Colo. starting at 2 p.m. MST.
