The NAU swimming and diving team captured wins in eight of 16 events to defeat both Idaho and New Mexico State in a tri-dual meet at the Wall Aquatic Center. NAU defeated New Mexico State by a score of 164-131 and defeated Idaho 163-126. New Mexico State earned a 167-127 win over Idaho. With the outcome of the meet already determined, NAU chose to exhibition the final two events.
The Lumberjacks now stand at 6-1 for the season and are 2-0 against Western Athletic Conference opponents as both Idaho and New Mexico State compete in the WAC with NAU.
“This was just a great team effort,” said head coach Andy Johns. “We got some key swims from some key people and that minimized the events that we lost. We were able to come together. We always seem to swim well in our home pool and everyone else seems to not swim so well.”
Freshman Kim Kopra and senior Danielle Borth were both double-individual winners on the day. Kopra took first in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:13.42 and also won the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:45.04.
Borth took first in both diving events, winning the 1-meter with 289.88 points and the 3-meter with 307.28 points. Both totals are qualifying scores for the NCAA Zone E Regional Championships to be held in March in Oklahoma City. Four NAU divers earned qualifying scores, including Natalie Hughes who placed second in both events and had already qualified at an earlier meet.
Freshman Taryn Harris qualified with a third-place score of 273.08 on the 1-meter and a fourth-place score of 277.05 on the 3-meter. Freshman Megan Collier qualified with a third-place score of 282.98 on the 3-meter.
NAU started the day with a win in the 400-meter medley relay as Claire Ferro, Kopra, Rachael Foe and Tami Binek swam a winning time of 4:25.24.
Becky Triemstra earned a win in event two, the 800-meter freestyle, with a time of 9:28.21. T.J. Williams took second in both breaststroke events to Kopra, narrowly getting edged out in the 200, 2:45.04 to 2:45.07.
Kimber Morelli took first in the 200-meter butterfly in 2:27.11 and Foe earned an individual win in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:05.48.
New Mexico State and Idaho were both impressive in the 400 freestyle relay as each bettered the old pool record, now held by New Mexico State who won the event in a time of 3:57.97.
“Starting off with wins in the medley relay and the 800 freestyle really set us up well from the start,” said Johns. “Kim winning the breaststroke events was huge and Rachael and Kimber’s wins in the butterfly events were huge. Diving was just dominant.
“T.J. Williams was a nice surprise swimming the way she did after being injured, and Claire Ferro’s second place in the backstroke events as well as Kate Schafer’s second place in the 200 freestyle were both great for us.”
NAU will be back in action at home next Friday, Nov. 16 to host a dual meet against Washington State out of the Pac-10. The meet begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Wall Aquatic Center.
