LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State swimming & diving team travels to Northern Arizona this Saturday for its final meet of the calendar year before picking back up in January. The dual meet is set to begin at 11 a.m. (MT) between the Aggies and Lumberjacks.
 
"This dual meet means a lot to our team, not just because they are WAC Champs but because we have formed a strong rivalry," head swimming & diving coach Rick Pratt said. "They bring the best out of us. We are hungry to challenge them in the WAC so we're going to bring everything we can. They have another strong group with many freestylers, flyers and divers. We're going to have to upset them in a couple races and be tough with our relays to have a chance. Travelling up there is a challenge and we will have to be mentally strong to bring home the win."
 
NM State, who enters this weekend 3-3, looks to finish the first-half of its season with a winning mark with a win this Saturday and put a halt to its five-meet losing skid against the Lumberjacks. NAU got the better of NM State the last time the two programs squared off at the Western Athletic Conference Championship meet as the Aggies came in second to the Lumberjacks.
 
In the 50 free, junior Lauryn Dean owns the ninth-best time in the conference with 23.92 while junior Picabo Bender's time of 51.59 in the 100 free at the Phill Hansen Invitational was good for fourth-fastest in the WAC. Freshman Sina Wegel's time of 52.04 was also good for ninth-fastest so far in the WAC. Bender sits atop the leaderboard list in the 200 free with a blazing speed of 1:50.05. Wegal's time of 1:52.28 has her in sixth while freshman Johanna Petersson narrowly trails her in seventh, clocking in with a time of 1:52.33.
 
In the 500 free, Bender's mark of 4:55.46 is good for second – just 38 seconds behind NAU's Kimmy Richter. In the 1k free, Grace Laporte checks in with a team-best 10:41.06 which is good for ninth in the conference. NM State also owns four of the top-10 spots in the 1,650 free led by Bender with a mark of 17:03.21.
 
Alix Knagg's time of 1:59.66 in the 200 backstroke is good enough for second in the WAC while Petersson claims the fourth spot with a time of 2:01.83. Lauren Wood's mark of 1:04.53 in Houston places her in seventh amongst WAC opponents while teammate Hanna McGowan raced in with a time 1:04.72. Wood, a sophomore from Temecula, Calif., swam a WAC-lead 2:14.05 B standard time in the 200 breast with teammates Barbora Krizanova and McGowan checking in sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Im the 200 IM, Wood's time of 2:04.82 is good for fourth in the WAC while Krizanova (2:05.37) and Knagg (2:05.65) claimed the sixth and seventh spot respectively. Wood is also fourth in the 400 IM while Knagg checks in a tie for seventh.