Oct. 29, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Lobo swimming and diving team dropped its meet against conference for Wyoming earlier today by a final score of 110-190. This was the second duel meet in three days for New Mexico.
In the 200-yard butterfly, a tight race from the get-go, UNM’s Samantha Moss edged Wyoming’s Claudia Carlson for the win touching the wall in 2:06.70. Her win was New Mexico’s only first place finish of the day.
“I felt great to win my event today because this was such a tough meet,” said Moss. “It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that I’m one of the girls that can step up when we need to score points.”
As usual, Monica Dudley got off to a fast start in both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle but she ultimately finished second to Wyoming’s Paige Fischer in both events. She finished the 500-yard free in 5:11.21 and the 1000-yard free in 10:40.24.
“Today was a tough day,” head coach Tracy Ljone said. “We’ve definitely swam better than we did against Wyoming this morning and I think fatigue played a big part in the way the ladies performed. Having five meets in three weeks is very grueling.”
The 100-yard backstroke was also a close race between the Lobos and the Cowgirls. Wyoming’s Jordan Denny touched the wall only 0.73 thousands of a second before sophomore Stelicia Flores.
Flores was also part of the 200-yard medley relay team that came in second with a final time of 1:46.74 to start the meet.
Ashley Blanchette had a solid showing for UNM swimming the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.78 to come in second place.
“I think we’re ready for a few weeks off from competition,” Ljone said. “We’re going to train really hard the next few weeks, and then we’ll taper down and give the team a rest before we go to Houston for the invitational,” she said. “We’ll see where they are in three weeks.”
Off the boards Ashlee Erickson continues her hot streak. She took first place in the 1-meter springboard making this the fourth time in a row that she takes first. Her score of 3330.75 was 93.82 points higher than Wyoming’s Sasha Andrie who came in second. Erickson also dominated in the 3-meter springboard, reached first with a final score of 275.03.
Megan Harper, who has been limited this season due to a knee injury, has gradually made her way back into Abel Sanchez’s rotation. The sophomore performed well in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard; she finished third in both events with scores of 230.48 and 237.38, respectively.
Laura Lee Thomas was second off the 3-meter and fifth off the 1-meter.
New Mexico is competition free until Nov. 17 when the divers travel to Tucson for the Wildcat Diving Invite and the swimmers go to Houston for the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational.