GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. / FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 20, 2025)Â -Â The Northern Arizona women's swimming and diving team saw a successful day in the water, competing in two separate meets.
The swimmers moved into second place with 374 points at the CMU Invite. Colorado Mesa leads with 494 points, while Colorado School of Mines sits third with 307.
The 500-yard freestyle set the tone for the day, as the Lumberjacks placed three swimmers in the A Final and delivered one of their best collective distance performances of the season. Isahbel Krasht led the charge with a runner-up finish in 5:00.52, closing hard over the final 50 yards to secure second place. Right behind her, Evalotta Aabrams touched in 5:00.77 for third, giving NAU back-to-back podium finishes. Theodora Sabev added a sixth-place time of 5:04.93, rounding out an A-Final trio that all hit NCAA B-cut marks. Meropi Eggink contributed another scoring swim in the B Final with a 5:09.46, while Mary Villeda and Keegan Knott added valuable C-Final experience with times of 5:27.18 and 5:41.12, respectively.
The Lumberjacks carried that momentum into the 200-yard individual medley, where they earned their first event win of the day. Senior Cydnie Perkins surged to victory in 2:03.24, her fastest swim of the meet to that point and comfortably under the Division II B-cut standard. Elsa Musselman followed closely in fourth at 2:04.65, while Kaci Kelaher and Kat Richter placed seventh and eighth, giving NAU four A Finalists. The team's depth continued to show in the B Final, where Allie Hayes moved up to 2:07.36 and Summer Ferguson and Mariana Diaz-Ponce added meaningful points with matching 2:08-range swims.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Northern Arizona's sprinters kept the energy high. Kokona Watanabe delivered one of the top efforts of the night with a second-place finish in 23.35, just shy of her prelim time and well under the NCAA B-cut standard. Kat Klatt added a seventh-place finish in 23.85, while freshman Camryn Brown secured eighth in 23.95. Scoring continued in the B Final, where Rosie Keith won the heat in 24.11 and Lily Powell posted a strong 24.24.
Day three of the invite begins at 5 p.m. MST on Friday, with live results and streaming available.
Back home in Flagstaff, the divers dominated the first day of the Lumberjack Diving Invite, hosting San Diego State, UC Davis, and UT El Paso in the 1-meter event.
NAU swept the top three positions after a commanding prelim session. Grace Wesche led the field with a 309.45 prelim and a 310.15 finals score to take first overall. Close behind, Mackenna Stocker secured second with a 291.35 preliminary total and 296.50 in the finals, while Margaret Wesche completed the sweep in third with scores of 289.50 and 286.80. NAU also saw a strong showing from Kirsten Clark, who gained valuable competition experience in her performance.
The divers return tomorrow for the 3-meter championship, beginning at 10 a.m. MST at the Wall Aquatic Center. Live results will be available on divemeets.com.
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