Lobos Drop One Spot on Day Two of Hansel
HOUSTON, Texas — An unfortunate DQ in the opening relay was the start of a tricky day for the Lobo swimming and diving team, but several good performances kept UNM around in the standings. The squad dropped one slot to eighth place after the second day of the Phil Hansel Invitational. UNM now trails seventh-place Air Force by 124.5 points. San Diego State still leads the way with 1,014 points, just 40 points over host Houston.
While the day started with the DQ in the 200-yard medley relay, which hurt UNM’s overall point total, UNM bounced back with a nice performance from freshman Caitlyn Beery, who finished 15th, qualifying for the B final. Beery scored 12 points in the 400-yard individual medley, and Mari Aoki added three.
Laura Benkova had UNM’s best performance on the day, qualifying for the A Final in the 200-yard freestyle, and she finished fourth overall picking up 26 points for UNM. No other Lobo made a scoring final, but Katy McCarter came close, winning the D Final.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Maddie Deucher finished tied for 20th for UNM’s best placement, and UNM’s 800-yard freestyle relay team of Benkova, McCarter, Camila Batista and Gracie Moylan finished seventh. In the 3-meter diving competition, Daphne Scheck continued her strong showing at the Hansel with another solid finish, winning the B Final. In it, Scheck bested her preliminary score by 46.75 points. Her 287.75 points would have finished eighth in the A Final. Jocelyn Gallais joined Scheck in the B Final, finishing 17th overall.
Saturday is the final day of the Phil Hansel Invitational. Fans can watch Saturday’s action here and view live results here.