ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico Swimming and Diving team wraps up day one at the Mizzou Invite after placing seventh with a combined score of 84 points.
The Lobos were up against the University of Missouri who currently sit at the top of the women’s team rankings with 339 points for first place, FIU follows for second place with 182 points, DU finished for third place with 163 points, University of Champai Illionois took fourth place with 151 points, and the University of Lincoln Nebraska follows for sixth place with 137 points. Northern Colorado and UNLV trail New Mexico for eighth and ninth place with 31 and six points, respectively.
The Lobos competed in a total of six events beginning with the 200-yard freestyle relay to kick off the three-day long meet.
Shayla King, Fanni Pataki, Kaela McKee, and Morgan Ginnis took the highest place of the day for New Mexico as they finished for fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:32.87.
Next up was the 500-yard freestyle relay where sophomore, Anna Lengyel, raced a B-final time of 4:57.92 for 14th place.
The 100-yard fly followed. Abigail Wheeler took ninth place with a B-final time of 55.30. Fanni Pataki competed in the same event and clocked in with a C-final time of 57.06 for 23rd place.
Wheeler performed again in the 200-yard IM and took the highest place in the event for New Mexico with a C-final time of 2:06.74 for 23rd place. Celine Bertrand and Kristin Walker followed with a C-final time of 2:09.97 for 24th and a D-final time of 2:09.51 for 30th place, respectively.
Six Lobos filled the lanes of the 50-yard freestyle, more Lobos competing in the same event than any other event of the day.
One of New Mexico’s strongest 50-yard freestyle athletes, junior swimmer Shayla King, finished with an A-final time of 23.26 to take sixth place.
Three more Lobos competed in the B-final of the same event. Pataki clocked in at 23.56 for 13th place, Ginnis finished at 23.61 for 14th place, and McKee touched the wall at 23.75 for 17th place.
Amelie Braul and Anna Lilliestrom were seen in the D-final race and finished with times of 23.81 for 25th and 24.35 for 29th, respectively.
As the evening rolled around so did the final event of the day.
UNM’s team of McKee, Walker, Wheeler, and King ended competition with the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:46.46 for ninth place.
Head coach Kunio Kono says, “We started with a great first day at the Mizzou Invite. Competing against the top teams in the country is hard for our swimmers but they are handling the challenge very well. We just need to continue to race the same way in the next couple of days.”
He says that both he and the team have high expectations for the upcoming days of competition and are satisfied with their performances so far. “This is just one of the stepping stones for conference and NCAA Championships. We had a great start today. One (day) down two to go. We just need to keep moving forward,” Kono includes.
While New Mexico’s swimmers will start back up at the Mizzou Invite today with the 400-yard IM prelims at 10 a.m. the divers will begin their first day of competition in Tucson, Ariz. at the Wildcat Diving Invitational.