PHARR, Texas (February 22, 2023) - NAU Swimming and Diving tops day one of the WAC championships with 133 points total. The Lumberjacks earned three medals through the first day of WAC Championships as freshman Margaret Wesche championed the 3m dives followed by Reaney Preston in third for bronze, and a NAU silver finish in the 800 free relay.
The Jacks started off day one of the WAC championships with 3-meter diving prelims, taking a quick jump on the leaderboards as junior Reaney Preston led the event through the first three dives, followed by Mackenna Stocker in second and Victoria Knapp in fourth. Stocker finished the prelims in first place with 305.65, followed by Knapp in second at 284.65, and Preston in fourth at 264.95. The Jacks placed all eight divers in the top thirteen out of 23 total divers in the event.
NAU opened up the swimming session with the 800 free relay as Elsa Musselman, Helena Robla-Alvarez, Annie Carlton, and Maddy Rey kept in a tight competition with GCU and New Mexico State as the Jacks finished second at 7:17.96. The relay time comes just milliseconds off of NAU's program record in the event for NAU's first medal of the week.
"We had some great swims tonight, including timed trials, so we are looking forward to a full day tomorrow. Our divers were incredible and they kept us at the top of the leaderboard with their dominant showing today," head coach Andy Johns said.
Placing six in the top eight for 3-meter finals, the Jacks were neck-to-neck with Idaho's Emily Mack and GCU's Abigail Erickson through the final six dives in the 3m event. Up for the taking, freshman Wesche put her name in the record books, bringing in gold for NAU in her first-career WAC championships. Weshce closed out the event with a 288.30, followed by GCU's Erickson in second at 285.40 and Preston closely following for bronze with 285.15. Senior Emily Luberto finished fourth for NAU, Stocker finished fifth, Maegan Jensen finished seventh, and Knapp finished eighth.
"Six in the top eight is amazing, and even Grace and Kendyl scored in 11th and 12th," head diving coach Nikki Kelsey said. "Maggie going in at eighth and winning the thing was incredible, they all dove great. Reaney in third was awesome, she was very consistent, this one's about winning a championship and just scoring points for the team."
Tomorrow morning's prelims session will begin at 9:30 a.m. MST, with events in the 500 free, the 200 IM, the 50 free, and 1-meter boards. The finals kick off at 5 p.m. MST with the 200 free relay.
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