SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The University of New Mexico women’s swimming and diving team lost all three of its matchups on Monday in a Mountain West quad-meet versus San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State. The Lobos’ final scores were 142-158 vs. San Diego State, 146.50-153.50 vs. Fresno State and 139-161 vs. Colorado State. The Lobos gathered 13 podium finishes in 16 events, 11 of which were individual while the other two came from relays.
The swim team was led by senior Madison Burns and junior Adriana Palomino, as both gathered two wins on the day. Burns grabbed her first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, finishing with a final time of 23.75 in the 50 and 51.80 in the 100. Burns also played a part in both of the team’s top-three relay finishes. Burns, along with juniors Carol De Groote Tavares and Konoha Shinada and sophomore Asami Terada, placed second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.48) and teamed up with Palomino, De Groote Tavares and sophomore Talia Passarelli for a third-place finish in the 400-yard-freestyle relay (3:33.34). Palomino captured her two victories in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. She finished the 200 with a final time of 1:51.41 and finished the 500 with a time of 4:55.58.
Freshman Matea Sumajstorcic also had a strong meet, finishing with the Lobos’ only other victory for the day along with another top-three finish. Sumajstorcic won the 1000-yard freestyle in her first appearance of the season in the event, finishing with a final time of 10:12.74. She also placed second in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:27.43 and placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.51. Fellow freshman Klara Farkas swam well throughout the day, placing third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:51.94. Farkas also finished fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.36) and finished sixth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.45).
De Groote Tavares and Shinada combined for UNM’s other three podium finishes. De Groote Tavares took third in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes (58.65, 2:04.06) while Shinada tied for third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.10.
Farkas was the team’s top finisher in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing sixth, while Passarelli finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.32) and Terada finished seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:23.87).
“It was a great competition today against three conference teams. In the midst of our most challenging training of the year, the team competed well,” said head swimming coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. “Matea Sumajstorcic, in her inaugural 1000 free, came away with a win, and Adriana Palomino and Madi Burns both performed well today, as well. We are spending the remainder of the week training in San Diego before returning to campus for the beginning of next semester. We are excited to begin final preparations for the conference championships.”
The Lobo diving team competed in two events at the meet including the one-meter and three-meter dives. Junior Allyson Concepcion narrowly missed out on the top-three in the one-meter dive, finishing fourth with a final score of 256.45. Sophomore Natasha Dark followed close behind with a 254.50, good for fifth place. Sophomore Valencia McDonald and junior Madeline Horner rounded out UNM’s competitors in the event, with McDonald finishing ninth with a score of 232.20 and Horner finishing tenth with a score of 203.05.
Dark led the way in the three-meter dive, finishing sixth with a score of 251.55 followed by Concepcion with a 247.50. Freshman Hannah Tiendas finished ninth in the event with a 228.10, while McDonald finished tenth with a 227.75.
UNM will compete in its final dual-meet and home event of the season on Saturday, January 27 when they host New Mexico State at 11:30 a.m. MT in Albuquerque.
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