ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Lobo women’s swimming and diving team is seemingly unstoppable. After beating Houston by a solid score of 142-101 yesterday, UNM came out in full force again today at the Seidler Natatorium and dominated conference rivals Air Force, beating the Falcons 162-135. Seven different Lobos were victorious in their events, including freshman phenom Robyn Miller, sophomore diver Becca Barras and senior sprint leader Myra Will. New Mexico now improves to 4-2 in MWC action and 7-2 overall, already surpassing its win record from last season.
Becca Barras controlled the flow in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. She won the 1-meter with a personal best score of 280.42, almost 50 points ahead of teammate and second-place finisher Tracey Berghian and 75 points ahead of Air Force’s top finisher, Jessica Williams. Barras and Berghian proved again, on the 3-meter board, that they are head and shoulders above the competition. Barras scored 293.41 points for a first-place spot, while Berghian was close behind with 259.13 points.
The Lobos did not limit their excellence to swimming. Myra Will came out in her usual fashion, winning both sprint free events handily. She bettered her second place time in the 100 free from yesterday’s meet against Houston, clocking in at 53:36 for the win. She also led the group in the 50 free with a time of 24.07, just over a second better than second-place finisher and teammate Kelsey Leckovic. Leckovic also finished behind Will in the 100 free with a time of 54.17.
Freshman Robyn Miller had another outstanding performance today with wins in the 200 back and 200 free. Miller blew the competition out of the water in the 200 back, recording a time of 2:10.83, a good three seconds ahead of runner-up Emily Heidgerd of AFA who swam the race in 2:13.16. In the 200 free, Miller again beat her closest opponent solidly. She had a time of 1:55.11 in the race and finished just under five seconds faster than Falcon Sarah Thilo (2:00.05). Fellow freshman Whitney Thomson made her mark on the scoreboard grabbing first place in the 100 back with a time of 1:01.33.
The distance, fly and breast events were also Lobo-dominated. Nicole Overeem completed the 1000 free in 10:44.39 which was good enough for first place while Heather DiLuzio clinched first in both the 100 breast (1:08.66) and the 200 breast (2:28.00). Sophomore fly specialist, Aimee Dunavant, was the winner in the 200 fly, finishing in 2:11.29 and earned second-place in the 100 fly (59.83).
The Lobos also won the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 4:01.23.
New Mexico is home again next weekend when it hosts conference standout Utah. The Lobos are slated to meet the Utes at 1 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Seidler Natatorium in Albuquerque.
UNM vs. Air Force
(UNM finishers only)
50 Free1. Myra Will24.072. Kelsey Leckovic25.026. Lauren DouBrava25.637. Becky Matz26.42
100 Free1. Myra Will53.362. Kelsey Leckovic54.175. Lauren DouBrava55.917. Alison Bushkill56.50
200 Free1. Robyn Miller1:55.114. Carly Jessup2:03.745. Becky Matz2:05.586. Nicole Overeem2:08.407. Julie Melpoder2:14.03
500 Free2. Nicole Overeem5:18.683. Lindsay Jeter5:23.956. Julie Melpoder5:59.007. Sarah Mele6:14.95
1000 Free1. Nicole Overeem10:44.393. Lindsay Jeter10:52.344. Heather Morsilli10:59.685. Megan Verbrugge11:02.41
100 Back1. Whitney Thomson1:01.335. Lindsay Fagrelius1:02.957. Courtney Donovan1:05.11
200 Back1. Robyn Miller2:10.833. Lindsay Fagrelius2:13.756. Courtney Donovan2:23.00
100 Breast1. Heather DiLuzio1:08.664. Heather Morsilli1:10.786. Alison Bushkill1:13.27
200 Breast1. Heather DiLuzio2:28.004. Heather Morsilli2:32.19
100 Fly2. Aimee Dunavant59.833. Whitney Thomson1:01.746. Heather Morsilli1:02.22
200 Fly1. Aimee Dunvant2:11.293. Megan Verbrugge2:19.27
1-Meter Diving1. Becca Barras280.422. Tracey Berghian229.957. Kaley Knafelc180.29
3-Meter Diving1. Becca Barras293.412. Tracey Berghian259.135. Kaley Knafelc203.85
400 Medley Relay1. UNM A4:01.23!6