FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Oct 11, 2024) - The Northern Arizona women's swimming and diving team completed its 42nd annual Blue vs Gold competition at the Wall Aquatic Center this afternoon. The Blue team would retain the title with a 65-39 victory over Gold.
"We're excited about today's racing, getting to see people in some different spots and some quick turnarounds," head swimming coach Andy Johns said. "It's just a step in progression and tomorrow will be another huge step with the competition that we face."
Nine of the 12 events would have Blue team members at the top of the podium. Starting with the 200-yard medley relay, the Blue team would secure the first event win by almost two seconds with a time of 1:46.61 compared to the Gold team's 1:48.32.
"It's fun to race and fun to see them cheering for each other and supporting one another. We're excited about this start," Johns said.
Bena Koehn, representing Blue, would place first in two events - the 100 and 200-yard freestyle. Koehn repeated her win from the Pentathlon in the 100-yard freestyle.
True freshman, Katarina Klatt recorded a time of 24.95 in the 50-yard freestyle, securing first place and boosting the Blue team's lead.
The 2024 pentathlon champion, Gracie Munk, also on the Blue team, continued to dominate in the pool. She would place first with a time of 2:08.80 in the 200-yard IM, and 57.20 in the 100-yard backstroke.
The pentathlon champion of 2023, Elsa Musselman, recorded a time of 56.11 in the 100-yard butterfly - ahead of freshman Isahbel Krasht who recorded a 59.25. This would be the first Gold victory of the meet.
In the 500-yard freestyle, transfer from CSU Bakersfield Kylie Ney would narrowly take the title with a time of 5:08.11. Casey Caffrey for the Gold team was right there with Ney, putting up a time of 5:09.53 to take second.
The final individual swimming event was taken by Cydnie Perkins, who repeated her win from last year's breaststroke event. She would record a time of 1:04.35 to give the Gold team their second event title.
Finishing off the swimming events was the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Blue team posted a time of 1:38.40 whereas the Gold team went 1:39.23.
In the diving events, the Wesche twins would take one title each. Grace Wesche took first in the one-meter diving with a final score of 316.95. Behind her was Victoria Knapp with a total of 315.75, both of which were representing the Gold team. Margaret Wesche's final score of 315.30 would secure the Blue team a win in the other diving event, the three-meter diving.
"Tomorrow we're going to really try to focus on ourselves and get a little better at some of the technical things that we need to work on," said Johns. "Our mindset will be on stepping up to the competition knowing that we belong at this meet. We will be giving it our best and it's a great early season test for us for sure."
The Lumberjacks will go on to compete in Tempe, Ariz. tomorrow against Arizona State, Arizona, and Grand Canyon. It will be their first official meet of the 2024 season.
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