DENVER, Colo. – A long weekend of traveling and competition has finally come to a close for the University of New Mexico swimming and diving team as they wrapped up the Denver Relay Meet ranking second place with an overall score of 228 points.
The Lobos were 66 points behind University of Denver who took first place with 294 points but led University of Wyoming and Colorado School of Mines who finished at third and fourth place with 174 and 60 points, respectively.
The Denver Relay meet consisted of a total of 23 events, 12 in which New Mexico competed.
The Lobos kicked off the meet with a second and third place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kaela McKee, Kristin Walker, Madi Burns, and Shayla King took second with a time of 1:45.59. Caitlin Gardiner, Lindsey Englestead, Samantha Moss, and Morgan Ginnis finished shortly after for third at 1:48.03.
The 1500-yard freestyle, 3×500 freestyle relay, followed where the tri-swimmer teams of Anna Lengyel, Celine Bertrand, and Sarah Weihe and Taylor McGregor, Emily McGill, and Deidra Dorough completed the race for third and fourth place with times of 15.53.18 and 16:25.63, respectively.
UNM brought in another third and fourth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, 4×100 IM relay. The team of sophomores, Englestead and Abigail Wheeler, and freshman, Bertrand and Emily McGill, brought in third place at 4:02.72. Seniors Anna Lilliestrom, Carlie McGregor, and Taylor McGregor and freshman McKee took fourth place as they touched the wall at 4:06.34.
The 100-yard medley, 4×25 medley relay, and 200-yard medley, mixed gender relay, counted as two more events where the Lobos finished for third-place. McKee, Englestead, Burns, and Fanni Pataki swam the 100-yard medley relay in a time of 48.78. UNM’s team for the 200-yard medley mixed gender relay, where co-ed teams have the opportunity to compete, clocked in at 1:41.83.
As the meet continued the Lobos saw a pattern of multiple second and fourth place finishes in the same events.
Pataki, Wheeler, and Lengyel took second place in the 300-yard butterfly, 3×100 fly relay, with a time of 2:52.70. Moss, Bertrand, and Burns came after for fourth place at 2:59.54.
Next was the 300-yard backstroke, 3×100 back relay. McKee, Caitlin Gardiner, and Amber Amber took second clocking in at 2:51.60 and UNM’s fourth placing team of Ginnis, Amelie Braul, and April Chee finished at 2:57.89.
New Mexico took second and fourth in the same event for the last time during the 100-yard freestyle, 4×25 relay.
The teams of Pataki, Ginnis, King and Burns and Chee, Braul, McKee and Lilliestrom finished four second and fourth place at 43.71 and 44.15, respectively.
Further points were added to the Lobos score with two more second place finishes and one more fourth place finish.
Walker, Englestead, and McGill made for a strong team as they took second place in the 300-yard breaststroke, 3×100 breast, at 3:19.81. Ginnis, Chee, Braul, and Pataki brought in another second place finish when they swam the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:30.91.
Chee, McKee, Braul, and Lilliestrom placed in the top four of the 100-yard freestyle, 4×25 relay, clocking in at 44.15 to add another fourth place finish for the Lobos.
Diving
New Mexico’s divers are not to be forgotten as they also finished up the Wyoming Diving Invite for third place in the women’s team champion division with an overall score of 74 points.
Day two called for the 3-meter springboard event where freshmen Rachel Colman
and Aundrea Scott placed third and sixth with 232.20 and 204.50 points, respectively.
The two competed against seven other divers from University of Wyoming and University of Northern Colorado.
Head coach Kunio Kono reflects on how it was for both the team and coaches to get back and compete for the official season, “This is the toughest team travel we have had in two years. We drove for almost 30 hours in four days and stayed in three different hotels. However, this has been one of the best team bonding trips for us.”
He goes on to say, “Competing and starting at the University of Wyoming is always tough. We got better and better each day of competition and practiced in the time between.”
After this weekend, Coach Kono includes that he thinks both the swimmers and divers will continue to improve and is confident that they will be ready for when the Mountain West Championships and NCAA Championships come around later in the season.
The Lobos will start back up next weekend as they will host Air Force in the Seidler Natatorium on Sat, Oct. 18 at 12:00 p.m. MT.