UNM Ends Championships With a Flourish
Final Team and Individual Results | Day Four Swimming Results | Day Four Diving Results
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The New Mexico Lobo swimming and diving team ended the 2020 Mountain West Championships with a flourish, setting a school record in a second place showing in the 400-yard relay, one of many highlights on a high-scoring final day of the championships. Overall, UNM scored 232.5 points on the day after getting 393 over the first three days, finishing in eighth place with 625.5 points.
Nicholle Toh once again had a superb day in the pool, finishing second in the 200-yard butterfly with a school-record time of 1:58.32, hitting the NCAA B-standard and just missing a conference title.
Toh also swam the opening leg of the 400-yard relay. That relay team of Toh, Breanna Wiercinski, Oliva Bishop and Hedda Øritsland finished second in the 400-yard relay with a time of 3:20.32. Øritsland was a part of last year’s team that set the previous record of 3:22.23.
This is how you end the championships, by smashing a school record in the 400-yard relay by over two seconds!!! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/XzGc1uPCAi
— Lobo Swim and Dive (@UNMLoboSwimDive) February 23, 2020
Toh finished the championships as UNM’s top point scorer with 116 points. Of UNM’s top five scorers, four were underclassmen, with Øritsland the only other Lobo in triple-figures with 102 points.
While Toh was a part of two school records on the night, she wasn’t the only top performer for UNM. Another member of the relay team, WIercinski, made it to the C-Final in the 100-yard freestyle, fulfilling her goal of making it to a final. WIercinski, an Albuquerque native and walk-on, then finished third in the C-Final, scoring her first individual points of her MW Championship career.
Toh wasn’t the only Lobo to record a second-place finish as another freshman, Josie Carpenter, took second in the grueling 1,650-yard free style with a time of 16:49.17. She was one of four scorers in the race as fellow freshman Camila Batista was 11th, sophomore Bryndis Bolladottir was 14th and freshman Anya Hammond was 21st.
Here is the final 50 yards for Josie Carpenter’s second place finish in the 1,650-free. Great job Josie … you earned that close-up!!! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/dH1UoQ6BZ0
— Lobo Swim and Dive (@UNMLoboSwimDive) February 23, 2020
Outside the pool and over at the diving tank, sophomore Jocelyn Gallais snagged an A-Finals berth by finishing eighth in the platform prelims, and then she moved up one spot to seventh overall to be UNM’s top scorer in the diving section with 40 points.
UNM also scored in the 200-yard breaststroke as freshman Aleksandra Tomaszek won the C-Final to come in 17th overall, and Asami Terada was 24th.
While UNM couldn’t replicate last year’s record fourth-place showing or the 792.5 points, the future is certainly bright. While UNM will say goodbye to four seniors, UNM’s underclassmen led the way. Overall, freshmen accounted for 268 points and sophomores scored 222. Those 490 combined points represent 78.3% of UNM’s total points scored in the championships.
The Lobos will learn of their NCAA individual qualifying fate in the upcoming days.
Nicholle Toh with another top finish! She makes the NCAA B-cut and comes in second in the 200-fly!!! So close by the freshman!!!! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/NmnLZpFDTP
— Lobo Swim and Dive (@UNMLoboSwimDive) February 23, 2020
NOTES: San Diego State won it’s second straight title and fifth MW title overall.
Lobo Championship Scoring (Relay points split evenly between all four swimmers)
Nicholle Toh 116, Hedda Øritsland 102, Olivia Bishop 62, Josie Carpenter 51, Brenna Wiercinski 51, Jocelyn Gallais 40, Mari Aoki 37, Bryndis Bolladottir 36, Natasha Dark 35.5, Camila Batista 26, Asami Terada 23, Hannah Tiendas 21, Aleksandra Tomaszek 9, Daphne Scheck 7, Sara Rogers 5, A. Hammond 4.
