ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — During the 2019 Mountain West Championships, The University of New Mexico women’s swimming and diving team registered the highest finish in program history in the MW Championship, placing fourth while also scoring a program-best 792.50 points.
For comparison, the program’s previous best was 697 points recorded at the 2017 MW Championships, an improvement of 95.5 points. Last season, UNM finished sixth with 673.5, a 119-point improvement from last year.
The Lobos moved into fourth on the second day and held onto the fourth-place spot for the remainder of the four-day competition. Along with the fourth-place finish, the Lobos had 18 swimmers and divers finish in the top 10.
On day one, the Lobos broke a school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay and in the 200-yard freestyle while having a top-10 finish in the 1m dive event.
The 800-yard freestyle relay team comprised of seniors Adriana Palomino and Emily Huffer along with sophomores Matea Sumajstorcic and Klara Farkas finished the race with a final time of 7:12.04. They not only set a new school record but also earned a second-place finish. The same team set the previous record on the first day of the MW Championships last year by 0.39 seconds.
Palomino set another record while swimming the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay by swimming her portion in 1:46.93 marking the fastest time recorded in program history in the 200-yard freestyle.
Junior Natasha Dark qualified for the final with a 270.70 in the preliminary round of the 1m dive event. After qualifying, Dark placed eighth in the A-Final with a final score of 273.80.
Day two for the Lobos consisted of winning the 500-yard freestyle and breaking a record in the 200-yard backstroke.
Palomino set a season best in the 500-yard freestyle while claiming the Lobos’ first win during the four-day meet. She touched the wall at 4:43.63 to finish the 500-yard freestyle. It was Palomino’s fifth win of the season in the event and qualified as a NCAA “B” Standard time.
Team captain Huffer finished the preliminary time trial of the 200-yard backstroke with a final time of 1:58.33 to set not only a personal best but break the school record set in 2014 by 0.05 seconds.
On day three the Lobos continued to make a showing in the MW Championship. UNM broke two school records and won another event.
Senior Konoha Shinada finished third in the 100-yard butterfly while breaking her own school record. Shinada finished with a final time of 53.37, which qualified as a NCAA “B” standard.
In the 400-yard IM Sumajsorcic also produced a third-place finish after finishing with a final time of 4:16.01. Sumajstorcic broke her own record by two seconds, which propelled her to post a NCAA “B” standard result.
Palomino won her second event of the championships on Friday, this time in the 200-yard freestyle after finishing in 1:47.03 to take the event win.
On the final day of competition the Lobos finished with their highest point total during the meet with 255.50 points. The Lobos had another event win and broke another school record.
Palomino finished the 1650-yard freestyle with a final time of 16:20.53, finishing 4.80 ahead of the next competitor. After her final win, she became the first swimmer in the Mountain West to win the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, and the 1650-yard freestyle. Palomino was also the first Lobo in school history to be named MW Swimmer of the Meet after placing first in the individual rankings with 96 points.
Palomino, Shinada, Farkas and freshman Hedda Øristland finished fifth with a final time of 3:22.23 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The squad broke the UNM school record previously set in 2014 by just over half a second.