Albuquerque, N.M. – A legendary UNM womens swimming and diving team is in the making this year. After beating preseason MWC titleholders BYU on Thursday, Nov. 7 for the first time ever in the history of the program, the Lobos (2-3 in the MWC) grabbed third place with 831.50 points in the Lobo Invite Nov. 8-9. The squad finished behind the Cougars of BYU who had 948 points and San Diego State with 840.50. Freshman Robyn Miller led the way for the team with two firsts and three second place finishes in the two-day event. Kelsey Leckovic, another star freshman, had an excellent performance as well, clinching two firsts and two second-place spots.
So far this season, the Lobos have been led in part by Miller and Leckovic. The duo was swimming circles around the competition again this past weekend when they combined for four firsts and five second-place finishes. Miller got the top finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.92, first-place in the 400-yard IM (4:35.86) and was second in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:11.65, finishing less than a second behind the first-place finisher from New Mexico State.
Leckovic also played a part in two outstanding finishes. She swam the 100-yard freestyle in 53.00, which was good enough for first-place. The freshman was also a part of the top-finishing 400-yard freestyle relay team, made up of fellow freshman Whitney Thomson, sophomore Aimee Dunavant and junior Heather DiLuzio. The team had almost a two second lead on the second-place finishers from BYU with a time of 3:36.62.
In addition, Miller and Leckovic were also a part of the no.2 finishing teams in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:38.68) and the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:54.12).
Divers Becca Barras and Tracey Berghian also had a successful meet. Barras won the 1-meter springboard with 275.50 points and captured second place in the 3-meter with a score of 466.55. Berghian received third place in the 1-meter with a score of 242.50 and was also second in the 3-meter with 462.80 points. The duo has yet to finish lower than third in any of the Lobos five meets this season.
The swimming and diving team is off until Nov. 22-24 when they travel to Bloomington, Ind. for the Indiana Invite. There the Lobos will take on out-of-conference opponents including host, Indiana. The Hoosiers are currently undefeated, having beaten Evansville, Notre Dame, Illinois and Northwestern.
Lobo Invitational Results(UNM top-16 finishers only)
200-Yard Freestyle Relay
2. UNM A (Leckovic, Miller, Thomson, Will) 1:38.689. UNM B (Bushkill, Jessup, DouBrava, Jeter) 1:44.9412. UNM C (Berghian, Barras, Knafelc, Donovan) 1:55.41
500-Yard freestyle
1. Robyn Miller 5:05. 922. Nicole Overeem 5:10.367. Lindsay Jeter 5:20.198. Megan Verbrugge 5:21. 469. Aimee Dunavant 5:21.82
200-Yard IM
2. Robyn Miller 2:11.659. Heather Morsilli 2:15.3010. Whitney Thomson 2:15.61
50-Yard Freestyle
2. Myra Will 23.833. Kelsey Keckovic 24.34
400-Yard Medley Relay
6. UNM A 4:07.54
200-Yard Medley Relay
5. UNM A 1:53.23
400-Yard IM
1. Robyn Miller 4:35.865. Heather Morsilli 4:47.8510. Megan Verbrugge 4:54.4313. Lindsay Jeter 4:47.40
100-Yard Butterfly
2. Whitney Thomson 1:00.309. Aimee Dunavant 1:01.2714. Myra Will 1:02.43
200-Yard Freestyle
4. Kelsey Leckovic 1:58.616. Nicole Overeem 1:59.6616. Alison Bushkill 2:03.29
100-Yard Bareaststroke
10. Heather DiLuzio 1:10.5216. Alison Bushkill 1:11.80
100-Yard Backstroke
2. Whitney Thomson 1:00.503. Myra Will 1:00.766. Lindsay Fagrelius 1:01.4715. Casey Woster 1:04.22
800-Yard Freestyle Relay
2. UNM A (Miller, Jeter, Overeem, Leckovic) 7:54.127. UNM B (Jessup, Verbrugge, DouBrava, Morsilli) 8:17.25
1650-Yard Freestyle
2. Nicole Overeem 17:56.823. Lindsay Jeter 18:02.187. Heather Morsilli 18:28.9710. Megan Verbrugge 18:44.78
200-Yard Backstroke
3. Robyn Miller 2:09.507. Lindsay Fagrelius 2:13.048. Whitney Thomson 2:13.5515. Casey Woster 2:16.9116. Heather Morsilli 2:18.09
100-Yard Freestyle
1. Kelsey Leckovic 53.002. Myra Will 53.438. Whitney Thomson 55.45
200-Yard Breaststroke
3. Heather DiLuzio 2:27.3816. Heather Morsilli 2:36.32
200-Yard Butterfly
4. Robyn Miller 2:13.3013. Megan Verbrugge 2:17.9315. Aimee Dunavant 2:19.15
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. UNM A (Thomson, Dunavant, DiLuzio, Leckovic) 3:35.628. UNM B (Woster, Miller, Bushkill, Will) 3:51.26
1-Meter Diving
1. Becca Barras 275.503. Tracey Berghian 242.5012. Kaley Knafelc 180.40
3-Meter Diving
2. Becca Barras 466.553. Tracey Berghian 462.807. Kaley Knafelc 327.10