FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 25, 2020) – Northern Arizona swimming and diving completed its second day competing against Boise State, falling to the Broncos, 143-157.
"We started out really great," head coach
Andy Johns said. "Diving helped to put us ahead, but we just couldn't finish the second half of the meet. There are a lot of positives we saw from the last two days, like the toughness and resilience of the girls not giving up. I think we are in a great place to really home in on our skills before the WAC Championships next month."
The Lumberjacks started out strong in the first event, the 200 medley relay, where
Lainie Bell,
Hope Williams,
Elisa Rodriguez and
Miranda Nichols took the top time of 1:44.59, helping the team get up 11-6 before the 1000 freestyle.
Astrid Villeda placed first in the 1000 free with a time of 10:41.03. Freshman
Haley Mayhew finished just a few seconds behind her at 10:45.51. With these two wins in a row, the 'Jacks stayed up by 14 into the 200 freestyle (25-11).
Boise swept first, second, and third in the 200 free, with
Alice Hick and
Miranda Nichols behind them. Hick swam a 1:57.14 race while Nichols took a 1:58.01 to finish fifth. Both of these swimmers are now in the top ten in the 200 freestyle for the season, and although Hick and Nichols took fourth and fifth, NAU kept their lead, 28-27.
The lead switched over to BSU in the 100 backstroke, where they placed first, second and fourth.
Lainie Bell took third place, finishing her event at 57.83, with
Fernanda Montiel in fifth at 59.78. The Broncos kept their lead through the 100 breaststroke and 200 fly, pushing their scores to 50-62.
In the 200 fly, however,
Maddie Seidl helped the 'Jacks by finishing first at 2:06.12, while two other 'Jacks,
Niamh McDonagh (4th; 2:10.38) and Katie Bier (5th; 2:11.71) also earned scoring times.
Rodriguez bumped her team score up once again in the 50 freestyle where she placed first, hitting the pad at 23.55.
Sarah O'Connor finished in fourth for NAU, timing in at 24.75.
The score switched back to the 'Jacks favor after
Jenny Cheetham,
Emily Luberto, and
Emily Sharrer went 1, 2, and 3 on the 1-meter board, earning scores of 283.20, 254.70, and 242.63, respectively.
Rodriguez kept the lead for NAU in the 100 freestyle, posting her third first place finish in the meet with a time of 51.39. With Nichols coming in fifth at 53.39, the 'Jacks were up 87-82.
Boise State continued to keep the pressure on the team, winning first and second in the 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and the 200 IM.
In the 400 freestyle relay, NAU's Rodriguez,
Katy Smith, O'Connor and Nichols broke the Broncos winning streak, finishing first in 3:31.17 to end the meet on a high note.
Today, the 'Jacks also celebrated their four seniors who are graduating this May:
Kate Bier, Montiel,
Erin Spielman and
Alice Hick during their last dual meet of the season.
"We're happy to see our seniors performing well this weekend and being excited about this next month of training,"
Andy Johns said.
The divers will be back at home next weekend for the second Lumberjack Diving Invite this season. The meet will begin on Friday, Jan. 31 with the 3-meter at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 will include both the 1-meter dives at 10:30 a.m. and the platform at 2 p.m.
Both teams begin the four-day Western Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 26 in Houston, Texas.
