HOUSTON, Texas – The Phil Hansel Invitational, Hosted by the University of Houston got underway on Friday. At the end of the day's six events, the Aggies were sitting in ninth place.
The standings after day one should not be used as a barometer for the team's success according to head coach
Rick Pratt, as he said, "We had a great first day today and the scores are not an indication of our performances. In every event today we're better than we were this time last year and that is very encouraging. We finished with some good relays tonight and I'm expecting us to get better as the meet goes on. Our freshmen were strong today with Lily beating her lifetime best by 7 seconds in the 500 and moving into the top five all-time list. Our IMs were great as well and I thought
Alix Knagg had a strong 100 meter back stroke leading off our Medley Relay. We have lots of racing left and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The first event, following the preliminaries, saw NM State compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team was led by
Lauryn Dean (24.10),
Sina Wegel (24.03),
Makena Sutherland (24.01) and Johanna Petterson (23.85). At the end of relays, NM State sat in tenth place, with a score of 34.
Next up for the Aggies was the 500-yard freestyle swim. Of the four NM State swimmers competing in this event,
Picabo Bender had the best time for team at 4:55.46. Right behind her was freshman Lilly Araujo, who clocked a time of 4:57.25. Completing the event for the Aggies was Nattie French with a time of 5:05.36 and
Grace Laporte at 5:08.68.
Following the 500-yard freestyle was the 200-yard individual medley. Six swimmers partook in this event.
Lauren Wood had a time of 2:04.82, followed closely behind by
Alix Knagg at 2:05.71. Barb Krizanova finished at 2:06.02, while
Lanie McAlpin was at 2:09.02. Rounding out the Aggies was
Hanna McGowan at 2:11.79 and
Logan Morris with a time of 2:18.57.
The day's events were hitting the home stretch as NM State moved on to the 50-yard freestyle which saw
Lauryn Dean post a time of 24.17, the best for the Aggies.
The fifth and final event for the Aggies was the 400-yard medley relay as
Alix Knagg began the event, followed by
Lauren Wood and
Georgia Brown, as
Picabo Bender served as the anchor. The team finished with a time of 3:46.29, to bring home 46 points and move into ninth place, as a team.
Friday's events were the beginning of a long competition for NM State as they will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 19, starting at 11:00 a.m. MT with the preliminaries. The finals of day two at the Phil Hansel Invitational will take place at 6:00 p.m.
