LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies' 2023-24 campaign is now officially underway as they competed in their first non-exhibition meet of the season on Saturday afternoon at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex.
In the season opener, NM State hosted WAC counterpart Northern Colorado who defeated the Aggies 169-131 in the dual which featured 14 swim events and a pair dive events. In total, four Aggies earned first-place finishes, including sweeping the top spots in both dives.
"Despite the loss, we had several great swims today for it being this early in the season," noted Head Coach Rick Pratt following the meet. "We had to win more events obviously, but our team, in general, has responded well with the training.
"We've still got lots of room to get better, especially with our transitions at the wall. We had several sophomores take their swimming to the next level and that is a good sign of things to come. Our divers were impressive today and it is very exciting to see the progress that group is making. We're going to learn from our experience today and be better moving into November."
In her first event as an Aggie, Mira Tinani immediately impacted the meet as she won the 1-meter dive with a total score of 239.93. She was followed closely behind by teammate Italia Aranzabal who's score of 232.65 was good for a second-place result.
Following a 200 medley relay in which the Aggie team made up of Emily Dobbins, Taylor Craft, Lindsay Puhalski and Katie Rink finished second, the Aggies put forth three consecutive individual second-place finishes.
The Aggies' first win in a swimming event came in the 50 free as Katie Rink reached the wall at 24.19 to finish ahead of her competitors. Later, Emily Dobbins would secure the Aggies' second first-place finish – winning the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:05.59.
Meanwhile, Italia Aranzabal managed the fourth victory of the day when she posted the top set of scores in the 3-meter dive – finishing with a final score of 225.98.
UP NEXT
NM State will be back in its home pool next Saturday as the Aggies take part in the annual Alumni Meet. Following the intrasquad meet, NM State will travel to Texas for a pair of dual meets on consecutive days as they take on TCU on Friday, Nov. 3, and then follow that with a matchup against North Texas in Denton, Texas.
EVENT RESULTS
1-Meter
1. Mira Tinani – 239.93
2. Italia Aranzabal – 232.65
4. Casey Schmidt – 183.38
200 Medley Relay
2. NM State (Dobbins, Craft, L. Puhalski, Rink) – 1:46.02
4. NM State (Brownell, Charitou, McDonagh, J. Puhalski) – 1:48.09
5. NM State (Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Wiman, Osthelder, Ceshker) – 1:48.64
1000 Free
2. Naomi Slee – 10:31.84
3. Estel Galo – 10:37.52
5. Bella Marthaler – 11:02.04
200 Free
2. Katie Rink – 1:53.67
3. Lindsay Puhalski – 1:54.26
4. Dreamer Kowatch – 1:54.58
7. Lina Khiyara – 2:01.96
100 Back
2. Emily Dobbins – 57.92
3. Bella Cratsenberg – 59.94
5. Jamie Puhalski – 1:00.32
7. Kira Brownell – 1:01.34
100 Breast
3. Taylor Craft – 1:06.36
4. Foteini Charitou – 1:06.81
5. Faye McDonagh – 1:07.19
6. Kodi Wiman – 1:08.17
200 Fly
2. Estel Galo – 2:05.25
5. Ellen Osthelder – 2:13.54
6. Riley Crespo – 2:20.75
50 Free
1. Katie Rink – 24.19
3. Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt – 24.92
5. Naomi Slee – 25.07
6. Callie Ceshker – 25.29
3-meter
1. Italia Aranzabal – 225.98
2. Mira Tinani – 215.55
4. Casey Schmidt – 173.70
100 Free
2. Katie Rink – 53.05
3. Dreamer Kowatch – 53.89
4. Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt – 53.91
6. Lina Khiyara – 55.46
8. Callie Ceshker – 56.52
200 Back
1. Emily Dobbins – 2:05.59
4. Jamie Puhalski – 2:11.54
5. Kira Brownell – 2:17.19
200 Breast
3. Kodi Wiman – 2:24.80
4. Foteini Charitou – 2:25.93
5. Taylor Craft – 2:28.73
6. Riley Crespo – 2:32.92
500 Free
2. Naomi Slee – 5:07.99
4. Estel Galo – 5:14.31
6. Bella Marthaler – 5:26.04
100 Fly
2. Lindsay Puhalski – 57.66
5. Faye McDonagh – 58.55
6. Dreamer Kowatch – 59.24
7. Ellen Osthelder – 59.58
8. Bella Cratsenberg – 1:02.20
200 IM
2. Lindsay Puhalski – 2:10.16
4. Kodi Wiman – 2:12.68
6. Faye McDonagh – 2:14.23
7. Riley Crespo – 2:17.36
8. Foteini Charitou – 2:20.89
400 Free
2. NM State (Dobbins, Slee, Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Kowatch) – 3:30.63
3. NM State (J. Puhalski, Cratsenberg, Khiyara, Craft) – 3:37.70
5. NM State (Brownell, Marthaler, Ceshker, Osthelder) – 3:44.70
