GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. / FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 24, 2024) – The Northern Arizona women's swimming and diving teams concluded their midseason meets yesterday, wrapping up the TYR/CMU Invitational and Lumberjack Diving Invite.
The swimmers began the day with preliminary rounds in the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 1650-yard freestyle at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Standard time. Finals, including the 400-yard freestyle relay, followed at 4:00 p.m MST.
In the final 1650-yard freestyle, Casey Craffey claimed second place with a time of 16:44.57. Kylie Ney secured fifth place with a time of 17:01.83, while Helena Robla finished ninth at 17:38.72. Keegan Knott clocked 19:44.11 to place 17th.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Jamie Delwardt finished eighth with a time of 2:03.44. Gracie Munk placed 13th at 2:05.83, and Meropi Eggink secured 15th with a time of 2:06.83.
Bena Koehn led the Lumberjacks in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing seventh with a time of 51.44. Lily Powell clocked 52.93 to finish 18th, while Kokona Watanabe took 19th with a time of 53.02.
In the 200-yard breaststroke final, Cydnie Perkins earned third place with a time of 2:17.94, followed by Trelise Dance in fifth at 2:20.14. Maria Diaz-Ponce secured 12th place with a time of 2:23.34.
Elsa Musselman captured first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a final time of 2:02.51. Kaci Kelaher took fifth at 2:05.31, and Isabel Krasht finished 16th with a time of 2:11.54.
Finally, in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the "A" team of Munk, Kelaher, Koehn, and Musselman claimed third place with a total time of 3:26.42. NAU's "B" team, composed of Katarina Klatt, Powell, Watanabe, and Robla, finished ninth with a time of 3:29.08.
The Lumberjacks maintained their third-place position overall with a total score of 638.50. Wyoming claimed first place with a score of 1,119.50, followed by Colorado Mesa with 1,009.
Meanwhile, in Flagstaff, the Lumberjack Diving Invite concluded with the women competing in the 1-meter championship, performing six dives each.
Northern Arizona had another impressive showing, with five of its six divers securing top-five finishes. Victoria Knapp topped the leaderboard with a total score of 604.25. Margaret Wesche took second place with 576.00, followed by Mackenna Stocker in third at 569.90, and Grace Wesche in fourth with 569.80. Catalina Devia rounded out the top five with a score of 557.65, while Kendall Marquez placed ninth with 522.20.
"We were prepared that we would be tired but did everything we needed to do to perform and the girls dove exceptionally well," head diving coach Nikki Kelsey said. "It was awesome to have five in the top five and another right there with them, they did a great job all weekend long and I am really proud of them."
Northern Arizona will host its next meet on December 6 and 7, facing Utah Tech in the Wall Aquatic Center.
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