Meet Five
NM State (0-1) at New Mexico (2-0)
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 29-30 | 4:15 p.m. start Friday | 11:15 a.m. start Saturday
Armond H. Seidler Natatorium | Albuquerque, N.M.
THE STARTING BLOCK
• Following a hiatus of nearly three full weeks, the NM State women's swimming & diving team returns to the lanes this Friday and Saturday as the Aggies head north for a two-day dual meet with longtime in-state rival New Mexico.
• The two-day meet features all the events in a traditional dual meet, but instead of taking place in one day they will be spread out over two days. Friday's action begins at 4:15 p.m. with diving with the swimming events to follow at noon.
• Saturday morning, diving again stats things up at 11:15 a.m. before swimming events start at noon.
• Friday's schedule includes one-meter diving, the 200-yard freestyle relay, the 500-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard backstroke, the 100-yard freestyle, the 200-yard fly and the 400-yard medley relay.
• Saturday begins with the three-meter diving event. Swimming events Saturday afternoon include the 1,000-yard freestyle, the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, the 100-yard fly, the 200-yard freestyle, the 400-yard IM and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
• NM State is hoping to put an end to a nine-match losing skid to New Mexico when the teams meet Friday afternoon. The Aggies' last dual meet win over the Lobos came in 2011 when they outscored their in-state rivals by a score of 144-98 on Feb. 5.
DUAL MEET HISTORY | NM State vs. New Mexico
1.25.20 | L, 194-106
1.19.19 | L, 176.5-123.5
1.27.18 | L, 192-108
1.28.17 | L, 193-107
1.30.16 | L, 153-142
1.30-31.15 | L, 201-143
2.1.14 | L, 154-132
2.2.13 | L, 178.5-121.5
11.2.12 | L, 195-138
2.4.12 | T, 150-150
2.5.11 | W, 144-98
11.14.09 | W, 158-142
1.28.09 | W, 178-105
1.31.08 | W, 159-140
1.26.07 | L, 159-127
1.28.06 | L, 145-135
1.24.04 | L, 157-126
LAST TIME OUT | Northern Colorado 167, at NM State 131 | 10.16.21
• Italia Aranzabel won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, but NM State claimed championship finishes in just one of the 14 swimming events en route to a 167-131 setback to WAC foe Northern Colorado in the Aggies' first dual meet of the 2021-22 campaign.
• The Aggies received a great performance by the quartet of Aimee Burton, Lauren Hemburrow, Neza Kocijan and Airam Oliva-Aun in the 400-yard freestyle relay. That foursome posted an event-winning time of 3:29.00 - a time which was nearly three seconds faster than Northern Colorado's runner-up team.
• Burton gathered up 21 of the Aggies' 131 points through the course of the meet, making her the best swimmer NM State in terms of point total.
LAST TIME OUT vs. NEW MEXICO | NM State 106, at New Mexico 194 | Jan. 25, 2020
• Neza Kocijan (1:54.98) won the 200-yard freestyle and Jordan Andrusak (2:25.19) claimed a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, but those were the only two events the Aggies won as New Mexico claimed a 194-106 victory.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO | ROSTER | SCHEDULE
• After not competing in any meets throughout the 2020-21 academic year, the Lobos are back in action this season. New Mexico finished eighth out of 10 teams at the 2020 Mountain West Swimming & Diving Championships.
• The Lobos have started their 2021-22 campaign with a pair of dual meet victories over NCAA Division II opposition. New Mexico bested Adams State in a relay meet back on September 25 and cruised to a 199-92 dual meet win over CSU Pueblo on October 8.
• In that meet, the trio of Mari Aoki, Laura Benkova and Marina Olmstead led the way for New Mexico. Aoki won both the 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard medley while Benkova emerged as the victor in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Olmstead showed off her short-distance prowess by claiming wins in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"Getting to swim against UNM again is something our team has been very excited for. As our rival, this meet means a lot to our group and we're going to give them everything we have. This first outing against them is a different format as it will be one dual meet spread over two sessions. This will allow for us to see more swims spread out of the meet for each individual and four total relays. Our group really turned a corner last week from a training perspective and has been looking very good in practice. Our expectations are high and UNM has several impressive athletes. This weekend will be a great test for our team."
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State heads to the Lone Star State next weekend for dual meets against two foes. The Aggies begin their two-day stay in Texas by taking on SMU in Dallas at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening. Saturday at noon, NM State tangles with North Texas in Denton, Texas, at noon.
++NM State++
