Feb. 24, 2011
Oklahoma City, Okla. – The University of New Mexico swimming and diving team is in second place after the first day of competition at the Mountain West Conference Championships. Their total of 97 points is second behind San Diego State’s 99.
In the 3-meter springboard final, all four members of the UNM diving team placed. They finished fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, making this only the second time that a school has placed four divers in a final. BYU accomplished the feat during the first ever MWC Championships in 2000.
Of the nine schools in the conference, only five made the diving finals: SDSU, Wyoming, TCU, BYU and New Mexico, who took four of the final eight spots.
Ashlee Erickson was the highest finish for UNM with a score of 282.60, Aubrey Bush followed with a final of 277.05. Melissa Bollig was fifth with 268.50 points, and Megan Harper rounded out the top eight with a score of 244.55.
In the first final of the night, the women’s 200-yard medley relay, the Lobo team composed of freshmen Jorgi Hobson, Ashley Blanchette, Stelicia Flores, and Heidi Zeiger broke a school record.
Their final time of 1:44.10, which placed them eighth in the event, bested the previous top time of 1:45.21 set in 2010. The previous record was held by former Lobos Jennifer Patterson, Ashley Grisdale, and Marissa Campbell, and current Lobo Nicole Peirce.
New Mexico also placed eighth in the 800-yard free relay with a final time of 7:35.40. The teams final time put them in fifth place on the Lobo all-time top times list. Senior Sally Bellinger, juniors Tesse Maciejko and Tonya Gramstad, and Zeiger composed the relay team.
The UNM divers scored 53 of the team’s total points, with the remaining 44 coming from the pool.
Look to Golobos.com for recap and results following conclusion of the day’s events.