Champions Week: 2020-21 NAU Swimming & Diving

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 15, 2021) – It was an odd season to say the least, but the 2020-21 Northern Arizona swimming & diving season ended in the same championship fashion as the previous seven. Eight sure was great for the Lumberjacks, as head coach Andy Johns and associate head coach Nikki Huffman led the program to their eighth consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship this spring, overcoming a number of obstacles along the way.
 
The swimmers did not compete in a dual meet until January – and swam in just two dual meets in all before the WAC Championship – and the complete team competed in just one meet together all season on Jan. 30 in Tucson. Still, NAU swimming & diving showcased its championship resolve and successfully extended its title streak to eight – just one shy of SMU's record championship streak of nine.
 
The conference championship resembled nothing like they normally do on an annual basis with the swimming and diving components held separately. With the swimming events contested first in St. George, Utah from Feb. 17-20, it was up to the Lumberjack swimmers to put the team in a good position and they that and more.
 
NAU won eight swimming gold medals (six individual and two relay) to turn over a first-place advantage to the divers the following weekend. Led by two gold medal wins apiece from senior Hope Williams (100 and 200 breaststroke) and freshman Francesca Criscione (500 and 1650 freestyle), the Lumberjack swimmers compiled 572.5 points at the end of 18 events.
 
Inheriting an 8.5 point lead over New Mexico State, NAU's divers sealed up the championship the next weekend in the luxury of their home pool in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex. Freshman Victoria Knapp won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards and sophomore Emily Luberto won the platform, allowing NAU to sweep the three diving events.
 
With the divers dominating, the Lumberjacks pulled away from New Mexico State and wound up totaling 740 points to the Aggies' 619.
 
The eighth consecutive championship was a complete team effort with contributions from upperclassmen and underclassmen. In addition to Williams, Criscione, Knapp and Luberto, senior Maddie Seidl and freshman Annie Carlton also won individual gold medals. Junior Katy Smith and freshmen Maddy Rey and Sophie Velitchkov also contributed to first-place relay teams.
 
NAU swimming & diving is the third feature in NAU Athletics' Champions Week celebrating the department's national and conference champions. Be sure to follow Champions Week on www.nauathletics.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 

"In a year unlike any other, we are so proud of and happy to celebrate all the swimmers and divers who made it through and contributed to our eighth straight WAC championship. With the swimming events taking place at a separate site and a week earlier than the diving events, our squad was challenged all season with disruptions to normal. After battling with NMSU down to the last relay in St. George, the swimmers handed off an 8.5 point lead to the divers, behind two relay wins and six individual event winners, plus another strong showing of our overall depth. The divers, happy to compete at home for the first time in conference meet history, left no doubt as they extended the final margin of victory to 121 points, with victories on all three boards." – Head Coach Andy Johns