HOUSTON, Texas (February 25, 2022) - Northern Arizona Swimming and Diving top the Western Athletic Conference championship standings through day three, with 514 points after a day full of top times and four medals for the Lumberjacks.
"It was the most exciting session of swimming I've experienced in a long time, right up there with the 2019 WAC meet," Head Coach Andy Johns said. " Every event we had breakthrough swims and it started with the 400 IM."
The 'Jacks advanced nine athletes into the 'A' finals, noting impressive prelim finishes for the team, to put themselves in a needed spot ahead of the night session. Beginning the finals with a show-stopper, Maddy Rey earned the Lumberjacks another gold medal.
Rey, after a second place finish in prelims, turned on the jets to close out the 400 IM at 4:15.32, beating her own previous top time of 4:22.90 which she set at last years WAC Championships. The sophomore added another gold medal to her collection while setting an NAU program record in the event and earning an NCAA B standard time to top it all off.
Francesca Criscione placed fifth in the 400 IM, earning herself a season top time of 4:24.06. Caylah Jago placed fifth in the 100 fly finals at 54.53, earning the 'Jacks 14 points in the event and earning a personal top time in the event.
Packing the 200 freestyle finals and earning the 'Jacks a whopping 47 points in the event, NAU's Helena Robla-Alvarez placed second for a silver medal, finishing at 1:49.79, followed by Annie Carlton in third for the bronze medal, coming in at 1:49.87. Senior Katy Smith placed fifth, finishing at 1:50.42. The three each earned top times in the event for the season.
Abbie Nelson and Haley Mayhew earned NAU two top seven finishes in the finals of the 100 breaststroke, both earning career top times in the event. Nelson finished in sixth place at 1:02.72, followed by Mayhew who placed seventh at 1:02.86. Sophomore Sophie Velitchkov earned herself a silver medal, while breaking her top time, finishing the 100 backstroke at 54.63.
Friday night's session ended with the 400 yard medley relay, where the Lumberjacks earned a bronze medal, placing third at 3:42.76. Velitchkov, Nelson, Jago, and Rey finished the race just four seconds behind the first place team, Northern Colorado.
"Jago, Carlton, Smith, Robla, Mayhew, Nelson, Velitchkov all had just incredible swims. I'm so happy for Abbie Nelson to be on the medley relay as she just epitomizes hard work resilience, she's been a great leader for us this year" Johns said. "We still have a tough day ahead of us tomorrow but really strong events, and we're looking forward to competing one more day," Johns said.
The WAC Championships will conclude tomorrow, as NAU looks to close in on their ninth consecutive championship. Tomorrow's events will include the 200 backstroke, 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 200 fly, 1650 free, and platform dives. Prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. MST, and finals will start at 5 p.m. MST.
Team Scores
Northern Arizona - 415
Grand Canyon - 481
Northern Colorado - 335
New Mexico State - 327
Cal Baptist - 271
Idaho - 255
Dixie State - 152
Seattle - 115
