Jan. 23, 2009
Lobo Swimming & Diving
Friday: TCU 127, Lobos 106
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Sometimes a strategy for winning a race is a simple thing. There was nothing complex about Lobo Marissa Campbell’s strategy Friday for winning the 100-freestyle in New Mexico’s dual with TCU.
“My strategy was to swim as fast as I could, put my head down at the end and not let her beat me,” said the University of New Mexico freshman.
It was a good plan. It worked, too. Campbell touched at 52.25 and TCU’s Ashley Bolin touched at 52.32. It was a close race with both swimmers straining at the end to get the first touch. Campbell won by a forearm.
“I saw her out of the corner of my eye,” said Campbell. “I knew it was going to be close. It was a good race and I like to be pushed like that. I don’t like to lose.”
Bolin had the second-best time in the 100 free, but her score didn’t count on TCU’s total of 127, because she swam the event as an individual detached from her team. The Lobos totaled 106 points with Campbell getting UNM’s only wins. She also won the freestyle at 50 yards.
“We definitely made a step forward from our last meet and we had a lot of times drop,” said Lobo coach Tracy Ljone. “The girls did a better job racing today. We are still training hard going into our next couple of duals and then we’ll taper off for conference.”
The Lobos were at the West Mesa Aquatic Center for swimming and at Sandia High for diving because the UNM pool has yet to open after a refurbishing project. “It’s horrible not having a pool,” said Ljone. “It’s been a tough two years on the girls not having a home pool and not having that advantage.”
Over at Sandia High, the highlight for the Lobos was Gabby Erickson scoring a season-high for UNM in the one-meter dive with a score of 295.87. Campbell won the 50-freestyle with a time of 23.98 and wasn’t pushed at the end of that race.
Campbell was pushed in the final leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, but was a good four yards behind TCU’s Bolin on the final 100 yards. Campbell cut into the gap slightly, but backed off at the end when it was clear that Bolin would hold on to her comfortable lead.
“I pushed, but I had nothing left,” said Campbell. “If there was more pool left, maybe I could have caught her, but that’s a maybe. She’s pretty good. I felt tired today, but that’s how you are supposed to feel at this point – tired and worn out from training. You train hard, build up and then you taper off for conference.”
The rest of the Campbell’s 400-relay team was Tesse Maciejko, Katrina McLoughlin and Sally Bellinger.
“It was a lot better meet for me,” said McLoughlin, the lone senior on the UNM roster. “In our last meet, we hadn’t swam in a month or so, and we didn’t have very good stuff. This meet was better for us.
“I swam different events this week, but I felt a lot better in the pool. I got all the kinks out and I have no complaints and I’m pleased with my times.”
The Lobos are 1-6-0 in Mountain West Conference competition and 2-7-0 overall. UNM’s next meet is Jan. 28 at New Mexico State.