LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's swimming and diving team bolstered its roster even further for the 2018-19 season with the addition of five athletes. Mackenzie Baird and Anabel Ivanov both signed their National Letter of Intent to swim for head coach, Rick Pratt, who wrapped up his 13th season with the Aggies. Swimmers Mikaela Miele and Natalia Villa, along with diver Ashlen Wingrove are also joining the team for the upcoming season.
 
Baird, who hails from Mesa, Ariz., swims for the Mesa Aquatics Club under the direction of Eric Dimmery and specializes in the sprint freestyle events. Her personal best time in the 50-yard freestyle is 24.45, while her top-time in the 100-yard freestyle is 52.43.
 
"We're really excited for Mackenzie to join our team," said head coach Rick Pratt. "She's a great person and is the kind of teammate who will help those around her succeed. She has some raw talent and with a little strength improvement, she has the potential to go far in her events and relays."
 
Ivanov comes to NM State from Saarbrücken, Germany, where she competed in the long course meter freestyle events with training from Felix Weins. Her personal bests include a time of 26.78 long course meters in the 50 freestyle, 57.35 LCM for the 100 free and 2:04.21 LCM in the 200 free.
 
"Anabel fell on our radar a little late in the process, but we feel very fortunate she did," Pratt said. "She has the potential to make a real impact for our team. Her best time would certainly make finals in the WAC and will help take our relays to the next level. On top of that, she's a wonderful person with high energy and is very smart. I'm really excited to work with her."
 
A product of Lake Tapps, Wash., Miele currently swims for Coach Ted Rychlik at Valley Aquatics and will compete in the distance freestyle and butterfly events for the Aggies. Thus far in her swimming career, she has posted personal best times of 1:54.51 in the 200-yard freestyle, 5:05.37 in the 500-yard freestyle and 17:29.48 in the mile event.
 
"Mikaela is a strong distance swimmer who likes to race the mile" said Pratt. "What we were looking for was someone who had that distance swimmer mentality. She has the attitude and talent to be a great swimmer for us and I'm very excited to have her on our team. She's also very smart and an outstanding student, so she is going to be a great teammate."
 
San Antonio, Texas native Wingrove joins the Aggies after attending Claudia Taylor Johnson High School. She has competed in the one-meter, three-meter and platform dive categories at the AAU Nationals as well as high school district and regional meets in Texas. During her high school career, Wingrove notched a second-place finish in 2015, first-place in 2016 and finished third in 2017 during district championships.
 
"I am excited to have Ashlen join our team," diving coach Miranda King said. "She has a great attitude and is ready to start diving collegiately. I think she will fit in well with our team and I think the current team will be able to push her and encourage her to be the best diver she can be. She has only been diving since she started high school, but has a gymnastics background that will help her continue to improve and grow as a diver."
 
Villa, an El Paso, Texas native, joins New Mexico State after competing for the Barracuda Aquatics program under the direction of coach Wright Stanton.  Her specialties include sprint freestyle events and has the potential to add depth for the Aggies in the individual medley and breaststroke categories. Villa's personal best times include 53.78 in the 100-yard freestyle and 1:08.35 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
 
"Natalia is certainly a late bloomer in swimming, but has a ton of potential," Pratt said. "She had a strong season in the spring for Franklin High School and improved a lot in the freestyle events. She is a hard working swimmer, and with a little more detailed training, she is going to get faster. I am thrilled to have another swimmer from El Paso and I'm looking forward to having her on the team."

Earlier in the season, Pratt and the Aggies nabbed swimmers Lauren Hemburrow, Neza Kocijan and Airam Oliva-Aun. Hemburrow comes to NM State from Aurora, Ontario, Canada where she competed for the New Market Stingrays under head coach Allen Swanston. Her personal best times in the long course meter events include 59.81 in the 100 freestyle and 1:05.61 in the 100 butterfly, along with a time of 2:19.87 in the 200 IM short course meter event.
 
Kocijan, a Ljubljana, Slovenia native, will compete in the freestyle and relay events for the Aggies. She previously competed in long course meter events, with her best times coming in the 50 free (26.32) and 100 free (57.46).  
 
Oliva-Aun makes the move to NM State from El Paso, Texas where she competed for the Franklin High School swim team as well as the El Paso Aqua Posse for coaches Jack White and LeAnn Carr. Her personal best times include 56.40 in the 100 butterfly, 1:53.78 in the 200-yard freestyle and 53.26 in the 100 free.