Swimming & Diving Class is Deep

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the 2020 Mountain West Championships, the New Mexico freshman and sophomores on the swimming and diving team accounted for 78.3% of the total points scored by the Lobos. Expect that to continue.
 
The 2020-21 signing class for head coach Keegan Ingelido is deep, and it’s one that should be able to contribute all season long as UNM looks to break into the upper echelon of the Mountain West.
 
“I am very excited about the women we have coming in to represent Lobo Nation,” said Ingelido.  “It is a very deep class of freshman and a set of transfers from SEC schools.  We have added depth and talent to our team.  I am look forward to the future of UNM Lobo Swimming and Diving.”
 
The class includes a pair of SEC transfers from Alabama and Kentucky, and it consists of 11 swimmers and one diver.  Last year UNM graduated four from the program.
 
Below are capsules of the 2020-21 signing class.
 Maddy Archer
A middle distance and backstroke specialist, Maddy Archer hails from the Great White North, calling both Ottawa, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia as home.  The 5-11 Canadian swam for coach Scott Faithfull at John McCrae Secondary School. 
 
Archer was highly decorated in her native country, earning the 2017 Nova Scotia Swimmer of the Year.  Her career has included being named  2017 Canada Summer Games Team Captain for Nova Scotia Swimming and earning a Silver Medal in the 5km Open Water Race at the 2019 BEST Fest in Mallorca, Spain while representing Canada. She also represented Canada & Ontario at the 2019 Barbados Open Water Festival and earned a silver in the 1.5km race and bronze in the 10km race.
 
She swam club for Nepean Kanata Barracudas where she is a 12-time Nova Scotia Provincial Record Holder, a five-time Nova Scotia Provincial High Point Winner, the 2019 Eastern Ontario Region High Point Award winner for girls 15 and over and the NKB Award of Merit winner in 2019.  She was a five-time Ontario Provincial Champion, a two-time Eastern Canadian Championship Silver Medalist, a three-time Junior National Medalist and an 11-time club record holder.
 
A presumptive business major, Archer picked UNM because “The amazing energy I felt during my visit, and the wonderful blend of academics and athletics; with the girls, the coaches and the campus. The team not only felt like something I wanted to be a part of, but needed to be a part of!”
 Maddie Deucher
A transfer from Kentucky who specializes in the backstroke, Deucher hails from El Paso, Texas.  The 5-8 Deucher swam in high school at El Paso High School for coaches Dow Farley and Steve Navarro.
 
Deucher, who will be a sophomore at UNM, was a part of El Paso’s 2018 6A state runner up team as well as 2015’s 5A District champs.  She earned a pair of all-state honors, earning first team in 5A and second team in 6A.  She was also first team all-district and all-region for both 5A and 6A.  She was a national qualifier as a junior and also earned all-district, all-region and all-state for academics.
 
She also swam for the Austin Swim Club and the Wett Swim Team.  With Kentucky in 2019-20, she had her best times at the Ohio State Invitational with a 56.67 in the 100-meter backstroke and a 2:01.91 in the 200-meter backstroke.
 
She intends to major in business.  “I chose UNM because I knew this was the place for me,” said Deucher.  “I’m only a few hours away from family and I’ll be living in the beautiful Duke City. Go Bos!”
 Claire Eisele
A sprinter and middle-distance swimmer from Neenah High School in Neenah, Wisconsin, Claire comes to UNM as a four-time state championship qualifier.  The 5-5 Eisele was a cum laude honoree in high school and she was named the Fox Valley association swimmer of the year in 2018 and she was a Wisconsin Sports Awards Swimmer of the Year Nominee that same year.
 
In high school she swam for Carrie Raeth and she swam for the Fox Valley Wave Swim Team as well.  She served as Neenah’s captain for her junior and senior years, and she was active socially within her high school, serving in leadership roles in R.A.D.D. (Rockets Against Destructive Decisions) and Launch (serving as a captain twice).  She also led “Teens for Jeans” in her senior year which helped to gather and donate over 700 pairs of jeans for homeless youth.
 
She hopes to major in pharmaceutical science.  “I chose The University of New Mexico because I loved the school, the atmosphere of the students, and the wonderful team,” said Claire.  “The Lobos welcomed me with open arms and they felt like family”
 Jordan Foster
From nearby Littleton, Colorado, Jordan Foster comes to UNM from South Aiken High School where she was a part of several record relays and is a two-time state record holder.
 
The 5-6 Foster swam for coach Walter Lee Wright at South Aiken.  While there she was a part of the 2016 4A state championship team.  She swam on three state title relay teams, the 2016 4A 400 Free Relay and the 2018 and 2019 200 Free Relay teams.  Over her four years at South Aiken she hit the podium in all but one of her events.
 
Foster also swam for the Aiken Pacer Aquatic Club and the Aces Swim Club.  She served in both NJROTC and FCA.
 
She plans on majoring in chemistry.  “I chose UNM because the team is a family,” said Foster. “There’s a special bond between the coaches and all the girls that I just wanted to be a part of.”
 Kristen Hepfer
Hepfer is a native of Midland, Texas and is the lone diver in the current class.  She was a four-year letterwinner at Midland High School under coach Roger Zuniga, and she also dove for the COM Aquatics Diving Team.
 
At Midland, the 5-2 Hepfer picked up a host of honors.  She was UIL District Champion in both 2018 and 2020, she was named UIL District Athlete of the Meet in both 2018 and 2020 and she was a four-time UIL Regional Finalist.  The two-time team captain was also named the 2017 Newcomer of the Year and the 2018 Diver of the Year.  With COM Aquatics she was an AAU National Finalist on 1-meter, 3-meter and Platform.  She also was a two-time USA Diving National Qualifier and a five-time Zone Qualifier. 
 
She was a member of the National Honor Society, Texas Scholars and served as Student Council President.  She was an area and regional officer for the Christian Church of the Southwest and she graduated in the top five percent of her class.
 
She plans to major in exercise science.  “I chose UNM because it felt like home,” said Hepfer.  “I love how close knit the team is and the fact that UNM has everything I’m looking for in a college!”
 Melina Hughes
Hailing from White Bear Township, Minnesota, Melina Hughes is a sprinter who prepped at White Bear Lake Area High School for coach Jake Mueller. 
 
The 5-8 Hughes was a state finalist and a Scholastic All-American at White Bear Lake, where she lettered three seasons. She was twice named White Bear Lake MVP.  She also was a member of the Minnesota Safe Swimming Committee and she was a Minnesota Swimming student-athlete representative.  She also swam with Riptide Swimming.
 
She plans to major in biology.  “I chose UNM because the coaches were very welcoming and the great weather is a huge plus!” said the Minnesota native.
 Avery Joiner
An Andrews, Texas native, Avery Joiner comes to the Lobo program from Andrews High School where she swam for coach Mike Waldman.  The 5-8 Joiner is one of four Texas native in the signing class.
 
Joiner is a four-time district champion and a four-time regional silver medalist.  Additionally, she was a National Honor Society member and a Spanish Honor Society member.  She also was Parliamentarian for her class. 
 
She hopes to major in biology.  “I chose UNM because there is access to great athletic and educational programs which paves the way for the next four years,” said Avery.
 Gracie Moylan
A native of Houston, Texas, Moylan joins the Lobos from ACS Cobham International School where she swam for coach Amanda Edwards. 
 
A four-year letterwinner, she was a three-time qualifier for both district and regionals.  She was a two-time captain and she was named team MVP in 2019.  She is the ACS record holder in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle and the 100-meter backstroke. 
 
She hopes to major in environmental engineering.  She was a member of the Honor Roll and the Dean’s List at ACS as well as the National Honor Society.  “I chose UNM because after visiting the campus and meeting the team I knew that I would have a home and family for the next four years.” Said Wilson.
 Marina Olmstead
A sprinter from Chunky, Mississippi, Marina comes to UNM after transferring from the University of Alabama.  Olmstead swam in a pair of meets last year at Alabama as a freshman.  The 5-9 Olmstead was a three-time state record holder in Mississippi.
 
A homeschooled student-athlete, Marina was a 2018 and 2019 USA Swimming Scholastic All-American and a 2019 USA Swimming Winter Junior National Championships Qualifier.  She was a Mississippi state champion in multiple events, and she was a member of the 2019 WTOK All-Scholastic Sports Team.
 
She hopes to major in marine biology.  “I believe in the coaches’ ability to help me reach my goals and the goals of this team,” said Marina.
 Borka Tomanova
A multifaceted swimmer who specialized in the backstroke, free and fly, Borka hails from Biely Kostol, Slovakia.  The 5-11 Tomanova, whose first name is Barbora, is a highly decorated swimmer who prepped at the Secondary Sport School of Jozef Herda Trnava for Ratislav Hlavaty.
 
A member of Slovak national team since 2013, she has broken 66 Slovak national swimming records.  She’s a three-time finalist at European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia, finishing fourth, fifth and eighth.  She was a finalist in the relay medley in the World Junior Championships in 2015 and 2017.
She is also a three-time participant in the European Junior Championships (earning a semifinal berth in the 50m freestyle) and she also participated in the European Championships in Denmark in 2017.
 
She was also a finalist in the Swimming World Cup in 2016 and 2017, coming in fifth and sixth place.  She won seven gold medals from the World Sport Festival in Vienna.  She is undecided on a major, and she comes from an athletic family as he mother Yvon was a professional discus thrower and a member of the Slovak National Team.  Her father Peter was a professional volleyball player.
 
“I chose UNM because I have a good feeling from people there, I believe it is a very good university and I like the family atmosphere,” she said.
 Marin Wilson
A freestyle specialist from Puyallup, Washington, Wilson is a top prep swimmer from the state of Washington.  The 5-9 freshman is a four-year letterwinner from Sumner High School where she swam for coach Dana Powers-Clark.
 
As a senior she was named Tacoma Athletic Committee Athlete of the Year, she earned the Tacoma Top Performance Award and she was named Most Outstanding Athlete.  At the state meet she placed seventh in the 200 free and third in the 500 free while helping to break the 400 freestyle relay record at district finals.  As a junior she was named Most Outstanding Student-Athlete as she placed ninth in the 200 free and fifth in the 500 free.  She also broke three records, in the 200 and 500 in the prelims and finals and also as a part of the 200-meter freestyle relay.
 
A four-time honor roll member, she was a three-time honor member society member, a class officer as a junior and a senior, and a two-time team captain.  She is the third sibling in her family to compete in college athletics, as he sister MichaelAnn swam at Northern Colorado and her sister McKenna runs track at Concordia-Irvine.  “I chose UNM because I felt so welcomed by the family-like atmosphere and the team,” said Wilson. “I’m so excited to be a part of this family.”
 Mia Zajac
A freestyle and backstroker, Mia Zajac is a native of Orange, Connecticut.  The 5-10 Zajac is highly decorated out of both Trumbull High School and the Woodbridge Aquatic Club.
 
At Trumbull, she earned All-FCIAC honors and All-Connecticut honor as well.  She also was a Club Swimming State Top 16 member.  With Woodbridge, she owns the record in the 100-meter backstroke and she was a part of five relay records.  She swam legs in record relays in the 200 Free Relay the 200 Medley Relay, the 400 Free Relay, the 400 Medley Relay and the 800 Free Relay.
 
In high school she earned the Seal of Biliteracy in Italian, was a member of YALE Young Women’s Leadership Launch, and she even was named Trumbull High Cooking Contest Champion.  She is undecided on a major.
 
“I chose UNM because right when I arrived I knew in my heart that I belong here,” said Zajac.