North Texas vs New Mexico
- January 6, 2024
- Denton, Texas
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Mean Green Sports
DENTON – The UNT swimming and diving team closed out its home schedule with a 171-122 victory over visiting New Mexico on Saturday, as the program honored three seniors: Diana Kolb, Tram Nguyen and Paula Nunez.
Kolb turned in the highlight performance of the meet with three individual race wins and a win in the 200 medley relay, on which she swam the lead leg. Her double-victory in the 100 (56.65) and 200 (2:05.51) backstroke events came by five and nine seconds, respectively. She won the 400 IM by 10 seconds with a time of 4:37.30. Junior Shaena McCloud was the anchor on the 200 medley relay team that won in 1:47.78, won the 50 freestyle (23.99) and the 100 butterfly (58.43) and was the third leg on the winning 200 freestyle relay team.
Junior Kailey Turner scored a pair of wins in the 500 freestyle (5:13.68) and 200 butterfly (2:05.03) and was the third leg on the winning 200 medley relay team, and junior Noelle Marsh swam the lead leg on the winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:37.69), won the 200 freestyle (1:58.28) and was second in the 100 freestyle in 53.37. Junior Kennedy Eichler scored a pair of runner-up finishes in the 1000 freestyle and 500 freestyle and took third in the 400 IM on her 21st birthday.
In the diving events, UNT got a second-place finish from Saylor Hawkins in the 3-meter springboard, followed closely by teammate Sydney Guidara, who finished third just .75 points behind Hawkins. In the 1-meter springboard, UNT was led by Brigid Krbec’s runner-up finish, followed by Mackenzie Ferguson’s third-place showing with a 237.60, which set a new personal best.
Head coach Brittany Roth also praised the effort of junior Bella Anton, who made her UNT debut in her first competition since spinal surgery and finished fifth in both the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.
“Our team kicked off the new year with excitement and with a great team effort,” Roth said. “Our athletes have been putting in the work since Mid-Season Championships, and they’ve carried that momentum into this back half of the season. I’m glad our seniors got to spend their final home meet with a team win, and I’m looking forward to what this team has to look forward to in the coming months.”
The Mean Green will return to action on Jan. 19-20, in Dallas, as they take on SMU, Rice and Tulane.
Courtesy: New Mexico Athletics
DENTON, Texas — New Mexico’s Jordan Foster won two more events and the Lobos swept both diving events, but North Texas’s squad depth was the main difference as the Mena Green defeated UNM 171-122 on Senior Day in Denton.
For Foster, it continued a hot streak after leading the entire UNLV Invitational in total points with 75 in the team’s final meet before Christmas break.
Having just returned for a quick few days of practice before heading to Denton, Foster won both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. In the 100, she beat out her teammate Kiana Raagas by nearly six seconds as UNM outscored North Texas 15-4 in the event, UNM’s best single event.
The 200 was closer, but Foster edged North Texas’ Tram Nguyen 2:26.94 to 2:27.55 to take her second event win of the dual.
Katy McCarter and Maya Clise were UNM’s other swimmers to win individual events. McCarter came from behind in the 100-yard freestyle to win by 0.56 seconds over Noelle Marsh of UNT, with McCarter clocking in at 52.99.
Clise took the 1,000-yard freestyle by four seconds over Kennedy Eichler of UNT, with Clise recording a 10:47.95. Clise was third in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:13.68 and second in the 400-individual medley to cap a solid meet.
In diving, UNM swept the title in both, with Kristen Hepfer taking home the 1-meter title at 262.43 over Saylor Hawkins and a triumvirate of Mean Green divers. Hepfer was fifth in the 3-meter, but freshman Alice English took that title with a 259.73 mark, giving UNM six wins.
The Lobos return the pool next week as the team heads back out on the road for a dual meet at Nevada at Lombardi Pool, starting at 10 a.m. in Reno.