HOUSTON, Tex. (February 27, 2019) – The Northern Arizona swimming and diving team kicked off the first day of the Western Athletic Conference Championship with a bang as the Lumberjacks are in first place with a score of 133, with the closest team having a score of 97. Through three events NAU has one first place finish, two second place finishes, and one third place finish. The win and third place finish came in the 3-meter event, while the second place finishes came in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay.
"Finishing the first day and being in first place is a great place to be, but it's going to be a long and hard meet and we will need to continue to keep fighting," NAU had coach
Andy Johns said.
Heading into the WAC Championship, the Lumberjacks are facing off against seven other teams to win their sixth straight Championship.
In The Pool
In the first final of the day Northern Arizona took second place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.20. This time marks the fastest time of the season for NAU by almost two seconds. The four Lumberjacks making up the relay were
Hope Williams,
Sarah O'Connor,
Miranda Nichols and
Elisa Rodriguez. The biggest take away from this event was Rodriguez who swam the freestyle split in 21.95 seconds. This time is the fastest split in Northern Arizona's program history and will bode well for her tomorrow in the 50 freestyle. Northern Colorado took first in the event.
"Rodriguez was unbelievable; I am excited to see what she can do tomorrow as a 21.95 split is just fast," Johns said.
In the second final of the day, the Lumberjacks took second place in the 800 freestyle, behind CSU Bakersfield. Northern Arizona finished with a time of 7:22.05, which is over three seconds faster than its fastest time during the regular season. The four swimmers making up the 800 freestyle relay were
Katy Smith, Nichols,
Sam Milewski, and
Monique King. The second place finish marked the second silver medal of Nichols WAC Championship.
On The Boards
The Northern Arizona divers started their WAC Championship with the 3-meter diving event. The prelims were made up of 22 participants, with the top eight moving onto the finals.
After prelims, the 'Jacks had three divers moving onto the finals,
Tatiana Kurach(first),
Christina Torrente(third) and
Jenny Cheetham(fourth).
Fellow Lumberjack divers
Emily Sharrer,
Alyssa Jones, and
Olivia Payne participated in the consolation bracket and placed third, fourth and fifth respectively.
"Day one was a success, as we were able to have all six of our divers score" NAU associate head coach
Nikki Huffman said.
In the finals of the 3-meter event, the Lumberjack trio were able to pick up some significant points for Northern Arizona as Kurach took first with a score of 305.30, Torrente took third with a score of 276.80, and Cheetham took fifth with a score of 275.10.
"All semester our divers have been dealing with injuries and sickness, so I was glad to see them be able to step up on a stage like this," Huffman said.
Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will be back in action tomorrow Feb. 28 as the divers will participate in the 1-meter and the swimmers will participate in the 50 and 500 freestyle, 200 IM, and 200 freestyle relay.le, 200 IM, and 200 freestyle relay.
