Feb. 23, 2009
Lobo Swimming & Diving
What: Mountain West Conference Championships
Where: OKCCC Aquatic Center, Oklahoma City
When: Wednesday thru Saturday, 10 a.m. starts each day.
MWC Championships Central
Live Results
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It’s the goodbye meet for Lobo senior Katrina McLoughlin and just like all her teammates, McLoughlin’s goal is to finish strong, establish season bests, and score some Lobo points at the Mountain West Conference Championships.
“I guess it will be a bitter-sweet time for me,” said McLoughlin, the lone senior on the 2009 UNM roster. “I’m excited in some way to be finished and moving on, but it also will be so, so sad. I’m swimming in some different events and it will be fun, but the year seemed to go by so quickly.”
Said Lobo coach Tracy Ljone: “Katrina has been fantastic for us for four years. She is our most versatile swimmer and she has always been willing to change her events for the team’s need. She has a 3.9 GPA, works her tail off in practice and is such a positive force on this team. We are going to miss her.”
The MWC Championships will hold a practice session on Tuesday with the real action running Wednesday thru Saturday with events beginning at 10 a.m. each day.
The UNM swimmers have a chance to qualify for the NCAA finals set for March 19-21 in College Station, Texas. The four Lobo divers already have reached the marks needed to advance to the regional Diving Zones set for March 12-15 in Austin, Texas.
No Lobo swimmers have reached the qualifying times needed to advance to the finals, but Ljone said one of the goals this week is to see if freshman Marissa Campbell can slip into the “B” qualifying times. A swimmer who makes a “B” time could advance to the NCAA finals if not enough swimmer reach the “A” (automatic) qualifying times.
“A big goal for Marissa is to make the B list,” said Ljone. “It’s very tough to get to the NCAA finals. Marissa is close to the B cut and that would be a great accomplishment for a freshman.
“Our team goals are for everyone to get their individual best times for the season and then to get as many swimmers into the finals to score some points.”
Ljone said Campbell is UNM’s best bet for quality points, but Jennifer Patterson, Jennifer Burgess, Maria Dudley, Ashley Grisdale and Nanette Wittenberg also have the potential to reach the scoreboard.
Each Lobo swimmer can compete in three individual races and four relays. The UNM divers – Aubrey Bush, Ashlee Erickson, Alexandra Lusk and Sasha Evangulova — all have the ability to score points at the MWC meet, but all four also have qualified for the regional competition, which is the key to the NCAA finals.
“Aubrey’s scores suggest she had the best chance to score big for us, but all four divers have a good chance,” said Ljone. Bush’s specialty is the 10-meter platform and Erickson has been UNM’s most consistent diver on the 1-meter board. All four divers have been competitive on the 3-meter board.
The scoring system at the regional Diving Zones is tougher because during the regular season the coaches at the meet did the scoring. At the MWC meet, there will be nine coaches judging with the high and low scores tossed out. At Diving Zones, there will be a panel of impartial NCAA judges holding up the cards.
“We’re rested. We’re happy and we’re excited about this meet,” said Ljone.