Aoki, Bishop's Two Wins Pace Lobos in 129-106 Win Over San Diego
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Mari Aoki took a pair of wins in the 150-yard individual medley and the 150-yard backstroke, Olivia Bishop took two in the 150-yard freestyle and the 75-yard freestyle, and the Lobos took the top two spots in the final relay to defeat the San Diego Toreros on the road 129-116 in San Diego at the USD Sports Center Pool.
The win moved UNM to 3-2 on the season, and it marked the first win for UNM over a Division I team this season after two near misses with NMSU and NAU. The Lobos, who didn’t compete at all in 2020-21 due to pendemic, won despite not competing in diving at the event.
Aoki and Bishop’s two wins were tops on the squad as UNM won eight of the 13 events in the meet. UNM was up 115-104 entering the final race, the 300-yard freestyle relay, meaning USD (3-3) could win the meet with a sweep of first and second (that scenario would have given San Diego a 118-117 win). However, Bishop swam a superb race as the third of the four-woman winning team with Marina Olmstead, Katy McCarter and Laura Benkova on the anchor. UNM actually took the top three spots in the final relay (only the two two score officially), clinching the win for UNM.
It was only that close as UNM’s diving squad didn’t compete, allowing USD to rack up a pair of 16-0 event wins in a pair of 1-meter diving competitions. However, along with Aoki and Bishop, UNM got wins from Josie Carpenter (750-yard freestyle), Kailie Turner (150-yard butterfly) and Brynn Quintana (350-yard freestyle) to make up those points and then some.
UNM returns to the pool January 21 and 22 in Colorado Springs at the Air Force/Colorado State double dual.