Lobos Host Rival NMSU for Senior Day
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There are a lot of ways to say it, from first and last to alpha and omega. Either way, Saturday’s swimming and diving meet for The University of New Mexico against rival NMSU is both the home opener and the home finale, as it is the only home meet of the year.
That makes it Senior Day, and UNM will say goodbye to four seniors in diver Natasha Dark and swimmers Asimi Terada, Breanna Wiercinski and Talia Passarelli in a ceremony prior to the meet. After that, the goal will be the same as it is every year.
Beat New Mexico State.
It’s something the Lobos have become quite adept at. UNM’s winning streak over their rivals to the south is at eight straight wins, dating back to a 195-138 win over the Aggies at Seidler Natatorium in November of 2012. UNM hasn’t lost to NMSU since February 5, 2011 as the teams turned in a rare 150-150 tie on February 4, 2012.
The Lobos are coming off a dual meet split two weeks ago, defeating Pepperdine 166-68 but losing to Colorado State 161-101. UNM picked up four individual wins in the meet with sophomore Hedda Øritsland picking up two wins and freshmen Olivia Bishop and Andrea Mariscal Guerra tallying the other two.
The Lobos will have their hands full with the Aggies, who are 2-4 on the season, but winners of their last two. NMSU has lost to a pair of Mountain West teams but has wins over Northern Arizona and Division II CSU-Pueblo.
For UNM, the Lobos will need another big day from Øritsland, who has four wins on the season, coming in the 50-yard free, the 100-yard free, the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard medley relay. Øritsland still owns the Mountain West’s best time in the 100-yard free with a 49.49 at Northern Arizona.
As for the seniors, it’s a chance to break through in a pool that all know well. Dark has three second place finishes on the year, two on the 1-meter platform and one on the 3-meter. A break-through win on senior day could be just what the Lobos need to pull out another win.
Wiercinski, who hails from the Duke City, has a pair of third place finishes in the 50-meter free and has turned into a solid complement in that race to Øritsland. Passerelli has turned in some key legs in both the 200 and 400-meter medleys and will be counted on again, but she also has been in the mix in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke and is looking for a breakout meet.
Terada has been a part of a meet win, swimming a leg of the 200-yard medley relay that won in Flagstaff earlier this year. She also was second in Flagstaff in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Other Lobos win race wins on the year include Bryndis Bolladottir, Olivia Bishop and Josie Carpenter. Bishop owns the conference’s seventh-best time in the 200-yard free, and Carpenter’s time is the best among current active swimmers in the league in the 1,000-yard free, and she is second in the 1,650-yard free.
Nicholle Toh owns the league’s best time in the 200-yard butterfly and she is also third-best in the Mountain West in the 100-yard butterfly
NOTES: The meet starts at noon. Parking is free in Lot A of the UNM campus, which is just a two minute walk to Seidler Natatorium.