FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 8, 2023) – Despite dropping the first two events of its meet against Northern Colorado, the Northern Arizona Swimming and Diving team finished strong, winning 10 of the remaining 14 events earning a 16th consecutive win over the Bears 189-111.
"It's not often that after the first eight events, we have won four, and Northern Colorado has won four," head coach Andy Johns said. "Northern Colorado was ready and hats off to them on a travel day because they were really racing. I think we learned a lot about it not being easy, but overall was a really good result against a good team."
Junior Bena Koehn earned the Lumberjacks' maiden first-place time of the day in the third event of the dual meet, the 200-yard freestyle. She closed with a 1:54.50, nearly a second faster than the Northern Colorado runner-up. NAU swimming earned four of the top five times in the 200-freestyle.
Northern Arizona would tie the meet up in the 100-yard backstroke, which senior Sophie Velitchkov won with a 56.99-second clip.
Three of the best five times in the 50-yard freestyle belonged to NAU as sophomore Elsa Musselman earned first-place honors with her 23.68-second finish. Velichkov and sophomore Sarah Dorrheim finished in third place and fourth place, respectively.
Musselman would get two more first-place times on the day in the 100-yard freestyle at 52.42 seconds. The Lumberjacks would place second through fourth in the 100-freestyle. While her 56.07 second mark was the best in the 100-yard butterfly.
NAU also had the four best scores in the 200-yard backstroke, with senior Annie Carlton pulling out the victory for the home squad with a 2:05.62. Junior Jamie Dellwardt, freshman Meropi Eggink and sophomore Gracie Munk were second through fourth.
The Lumberjack Diving team provided a major boost for NAU over the course of Friday afternoon, sweeping both the 1 and 3-meter diving competitions.
Individually, senior Victoria Knapp swept both competitions herself, scoring a 285.68 in the 1-meter and a new career 3-meter best with a 334.65.
All of Northern Arizona's divers individually scored better than their Northern Colorado opponents in both competitions.
Senior Maddy Rey came from behind and was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle, scoring 5:09.18. The Lumberjacks would win the final relay of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay by nearly four seconds at 3:30.67.
For the only time this season, NAU Swimming and Diving will host back-to-back home meets, as the Lumberjacks will go head-to-head with New Mexico State on Friday and Saturday next week at Wall Aquatic Center.
Friday's festivities will begin at 3:30 p.m., and Saturday's events will start at 11 a.m.
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