The Northern Arizona swimming & diving team was nothing short of dominant in cruising past Northern Colorado, 214-86, on Saturday to cap a 2-1 dual record on their first road trip of the season. Sophomore Alina Staffeldt won three events, and seniors Kendall Brown and Chelsea Jackson and junior Urte Kazakeviciute all won two events a piece as the Lumberjacks posted 14 event wins out of 16. With the win, NAU remained perfect all-time in dual meets versus Northern Colorado in 11 all-time meetings.
“We won the medley relay, Kendall and Kimmy (Richter) went one-two in the mile and Claire (Hammond) won the 200 free and we started out on a nice roll,” said head coach Andy Johns. “Urte then wins the 50 breaststroke, Alina wins the 200 fly and Roni (Houck) and Ila (Hughes) go one-two in the 50 free and we’re off. There were a lot of wins from a lot of different people and the divers did a great job once again today.
Staffeldt led the Lumberjacks with wins in the both butterfly events – the 50 and the 200 – as well as the 100 freestyle. In her first win of the day, she posted a time of 2:08.78 in the 200 fly, then won the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.34. Her final win of the day came in the 50 fly with a time of 26.28.
Brown posted victories in two grueling events, first winning the mile with a time of 17:34.43 and also claiming the victory in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:38.72. Kazakeviciute swept the breaststroke events with winning times of 30.96 in the 50 and 2:25.46 in the 200. Meanwhile on the diving boards, Jackson posted the top scores to sweep both diving events. Jackson won the 3-meter competition with a score of 270.91 and 1-meter with a score of 279.98.
Among NAU’s other winners were sophomore Claire Hammond in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:57.77, sophomore Roni Houck in the 50 free with a time of 24.85 and junior Jori Lindquist in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:10.57. Sophomore Kimmy Richter clocked a dominating time of 5:10.51 to win the 500 free to round out NAU’s individual winners.
NAU also posted a winning time of 3:56.07 in the 400 medley relay to pen the day. Lindquist, Kazakeviciute, Staffeldt and Houck comprised the Lumberjacks’ winning relay team.
The Lumberjacks were mere tenths of seconds – and even closer – from sweeping the entire meet. In Northern Colorado’s lone individual event win, Lindquist was edged out in the 50 back by .43 seconds and the Bears squeaked by in the day’s final relay – the 200 free relay – by .01 seconds.
The Lumberjacks went one-two in seven events and also completed one-two-three finishes in two events. In the 100 free, Staffeldt, Houck and junior Hayley Edmond captured the top three spots. Lindquist immediately followed with her win in the 200 back and was backed by seniors Trinity Frazee and Brittain for a second straight top three sweep.
Behind Jackson on the diving boards, junior Alexa Geiger finished runner-up with a score of 262.88. Freshman Raquel Gonzales placed fourth with a score of 233.03. On 1-meter, Geiger (269.48) and Gonzales (229.02) placed third and fourth respectively.
“To Northern Colorado’s credit, their lineup has been hit by injuries and some of their best swimmers weren’t competing today,” Johns said. “Our girls stepped up and it was a nice way to come back from yesterday’s racing and be competitive.”
NAU’s divers will compete next week in Tucson, Ariz. in the three-day Wildcat Diving Invitational, including their first appearance on platform this season. The Lumberjack swimmers will be off until the team rejoins for a dual meet at New Mexico State on Dec. 5.
