NAU Swimmers Ready to Race at 24th Annual Pentathlon on Friday

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 19, 2019) – Junior Niamh McDonagh, the two-time defending Pentathlon champion, will look to three-peat at the 24th annual Pentathlon on Friday at 2 p.m. in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex. A total of 25 Northern Arizona swimmers are slated to compete at the season-opening intrasquad meet, which is free for all fans to attend.
 
"Every year the team is different and it's exciting to see what the team will become," said head coach Andy Johns. "The Pentathlon is a great marker and will let us know where they are especially for the returners to see where they were in years past. For our newcomers, it's our first opportunity to see them race."
 
The Pentathlon, as customary, will feature five events – the 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. Each swimmer will earn points based on their times in each of the five events with the overall champion being the swimmer with the highest cumulative total.
 
McDonagh enters the meet as the two-time reigning champion after scoring 3,670 points in the 2018 Pentathlon. Her back-to-back win snapped a three-year stretch in which a newcomer was crowned the winner.
 
McDonagh repeated as champion last year despite placing first in only one event – the 200m IM. She did place in the top five in three other events though including a second-place finish in the 100m breaststroke.
 
Three other first-place finishers return headlined by 2019 WAC Swimmer of the Year, junior Elisa Rodriguez. Rodriguez won the 100m freestyle last year, while senior Fernanda Montiel and junior Hope Williams posted first-place finishes in the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke respectively.
 
Senior Kate Bier, the next highest overall returning finisher behind McDonagh, improved from fourth overall in 2017 to a third-place finish in 2018 with 3,280 points. Bier was just edged out for the top time in the 100m butterfly and came in as the runner-up in the event to go along with a fifth-place finish in the 200m IM.
 
Of the 25 swimmers who will suit up for the Pentathlon on Friday, five freshmen – Lainie Bell, Sara Jendbro, Haley Mayhew, Iliana Moore and Brooke Seiber – will be racing for the first time in their collegiate careers.