Houston, Tex. (February 28, 2019) – The Northern Arizona swimming and diving team were able to increase its lead in the Western Athletic Conference Championship on Feb. 28. The Lumberjacks are currently in first place with a score of 321.5, while Northern Colorado is in second with a score of 209.5. NAU's increased lead in day two came from an outstanding 1-meter event from the Lumberjack divers in which the team took the top three places in the event.
"We haven't performed our best at the Championships yet, but we have been getting great contribution from everyone." NAU head coach
Andy Johns said.
In The Pool
The Lumberjacks took part in four different swimming events on day two of the WAC Championships. Of the four events, the 'Jacks were able to take one first place finish, one second place finish, one third place finish and one fifth place finish.
Northern Arizona's lone swimming win came in the 50 freestyle from
Elisa Rodriguez. Rodriguez was able to put together a spectacular prelim performance in which she swam a time of 22.63, which broke the school record for the fastest 50 in program history. Although breaking the record, Rodriguez qualified second for the finals behind Northern Colorado's Madelyn Moore. In the finals, the two speedsters tied for first with a time of 22.71. The second highest finish for a Lumberjack was
Andrea Schmidt who finished 10th with a time of 23.53.
Northern Arizona's second place finish came in the 200 freestyle relay where they finished with a time of 1:32.09. NAU got edged out by Northern Colorado who finished with a time of 1:31.32. The 'Jacks relay team was made up of Rodriguez,
Katy Smith, Schmidt and
Miranda Nichols. This marks Northern Arizona's third, second place finish in a relay event at the WAC Championships. Rodriguez swam the fastest split with a time of 22.65.
Monique King was able to secure the 'Jacks third highest finish of the day in the pool with a third place finish in the 500 freestyle. King finished the race with a time of 4:52.05.
Sam Milewski was the second highest finisher for NAU as she placed 10th with a time of 4:57.89.
In the 200 individual medley, Northern Arizona had its lowest placing of the afternoon as the highest finisher was
Niamh McDonagh who finished fifth overall with a time of 2:02.11. The time puts McDonagh fifth all-time in Northern Arizona's record books.
Sarah Takach was also able to score NAU some quality points as she finished 11th with a time of 2:05.04.
"We were better tonight than this morning but we need to start turning some of these 10th, and 11th place finishes into eighth place finishes," Johns said.
On the Boards
The Northern Arizona diving team had a dominating day on the boards as the team took four of the top spots in the 1-meter event. After the 1-meter prelims, the Lumberjacks had four of their six divers move onto the finals. Although not making the finals,
Alyssa Jones and
Olivia Payne participated in the consolation bracket and finished fourth and fifth. Payne finished fourth with a score of 233.65 and Jones finished with a score of 227.25.
After making into finals,
Tatiana Kurach finished in first with a score of 313.35. This marks the second win for Kurach in the WAC Championships on the week. Kurach wasn't the only who found success in the 1-meter as
Jenny Cheetham finished in second place with a score of 297.15 and
Christina Torrente finished in third with a score of 288.85. This is the second top-three finish for Torrente in the Championships.
Emily Sharrer was able to make her first finals of her Lumberjack career as she finished sixth with a score of 264.15.
"Before I even saw the results I was super proud of the girls cause they all did so well and competed great," NAU associate head coach
Nikki Huffman said.
Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will be back in action tomorrow March 1 as they look to maintain first place in the WAC Championships.
