The University of New Mexico’s swimming and diving team brought in a victory for their home opener against Air Force Academy in the dual meet with a final score of 180 to 119.
The Lobos took nine first place titles out of the 16 events that were held in the Seidler Natatorium.
New Mexico had a strong start as they raced the first event for first and second place in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kaela McKee, Kristin Walker, Madi Burns, and Morgan Ginnis took first with a time of 1:44.89. Amber Amr, Lindsey Englestead, Abigail Wheeler, and Shayla King followed for second place at 1:48.40.
Sophomore McKee and senior Amr carried their strength over to the 100-yard backstroke as they finished for the top two times. McKee took first with a time of 57.01 to add nine points to New Mexico’s combined score while Amber Amr placed second at 58.59 to add another four points from the same event.
UNM saw a first through third place sweep in four events: the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard backstroke, and 100-yard butterfly.
Sixteen points were added to UNM’s score as King took first with a time of 24.13, Ginnis for second at 24.34, and Burns for third at 24.36 in one of the quickest events of the day, the 50-yard freestyle.
Walker, Englestead, and Emily McGill finished for first, second, and third place in the 100-yard breaststroke as they touched the pad at 1:05.70, 1:06.79, and 1:07.93, respectively.
Englestead and Walker made their mark in the 200-yard breaststroke too as they took second and third place at 2:23.37 and 2:26.32, respectively.
McKee and Amr showed an impressive performance once again in the 200-yard backstroke while Caitlin Gardiner showed what she could bring to the table as well. Mckee finished for another first place title with a time of 2:07.78. Gardiner trailed for second at 2:07.82. Amr clocked in for third at 2:10.16.
New Mexico took first, second, and third place in the third and final event: the 100-yard butterfly. Abigail Wheeler, Fanni Pataki, and Samantha Moss finished in that order for a final time of 57.15, 58.39, and 58.57, respectively.
Pataki also finished for fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:55.51.
The Lobos didn’t stop in their pattern of finishing for first.
Their hunger for more events titles and an increasing overall Lobo score was passed onto the 200-yard butterfly as Celine Bertrand took first at 2:06.93. Anna Lengyel finished for second at 2:07.24 and Samantha Moss brought in a fourth place finish at 2:09.86.
King brought in another first place finish for New Mexico in the 100-yard freestyle event clocking in at 53.29. Amelie Braul and April Chee took third and fourth in the same event at 53.76 and 53.82, respectively.
Lengyel contributed again to UNM’s sum of points as she took third in the 1000-yard freestyle at 10:43.95 and in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:10.43. Bertrand finished for fourth in the aforementioned race at 5:11.70.
New Mexico not only showed the
Falcons how strong they could start off but how they could carry their momentum until the very end.
The Lobos raced event number 16 for a first place title in the 400-yard freestyle relay and brought in second place while they were at it.
The team of Gardiner, Pataki, Bertrand, and Anna Lilliestrom took first in the final event of the day with a time of 3:30.98. King, Chee, Amelie, and Ginnis followed for second at 3:31.29.
Diving
New Mexico’s diving team comprised of all freshmen, Rachel Colman, Aundrea Scott, and Kayla Taylor, added seven points to UNM’s score after competing in the 1-meter springboard event.
Colman finished for second scoring 233.10, Scott took fourth with a score of 212.78 , and Taylor followed for fifth after scoring 140.33.
Colman and Scott went on to dive off the 3-meter to add another seven points for the Lobos. Colman took second again with a final score of 240.68 and Scott locked in a score of 207.53.
New Mexico’s swimming and diving program was expecting a close meet against the Falcons, they also held certain expectations after coming from last weekend’s competition in Wyoming and Colorado.
Head coach Kunio Kono says at the conclusion of the meet “We’ve been training really hard this past week, they knew they had to step up. Our goal is to get faster and faster. They focused on what they wanted and it came out to be a good result.”
Kono also recognizes his team’s success as being a product influenced by all of the family and fan support offered in the home meet.
The Lobos will be training this week after a strong win over the Falcons. Coming off a high note and this level of competition will help prepare them as they host another home meet this coming weekend against Northern Arizona on Sat, Oct. 25 at 11:00 a.m. MT
College Swimming News courtesy of the University of New Mexico’s swimming and diving.