LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State swimming and diving team dropped its season-opening dual meet to Liberty after two days of competition at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex, 185-117.
 
"Liberty is a great team and we knew we'd have some challenges today but I was a little disappointed in the beginning of the meet," said head coach Rick Pratt. "We weren't really ready to race right away and were sloppy in our details, our energy was low and we kind of had to shake that off going into the second half of the meet which was a lot better. I thought there were some highlights, we had a handful of freshman really do a great job today. But we have to keep working and getting after it."
 
With a lead heading into day two of the competition, the Flames started off strong taking 1-2 in the 200 Medley relay with the NM State squad of Alix Knagg, Hanna McGowan, Reagan Nentwich and Neza Kocijan finishing third with a time of 1:48.95.
 
The Flames again swept the top two spots in the 1000 Free with the Aggies' Grace Laporte coming in third at 11:04.03.
 
Liberty then took the top three spots in the 200 Free while freshman Lauren Hemburrow finished just missed out on the podium finishing in 1:55.64 to third place finisher Hannah Baker's 1:55.45.
 
The 100 Back saw Alix Knagg take third with a time of 1:00.19.
 
In the 100 Breast, Hanna McGowan touched the wall second with a time of 1:06.16 with teammate Lauren Wood placing fourth, recording a time of 1:06.77.
 
Then, Katherine Harston, Lanie McAlpin and Rachel Langone finished third, fourth and fifth in the 200 Fly with times of 2:09.54, 2:10.20 and 2:15.04 respectively.  
 
Next, Anabel Ivanov placed fourth in the 50 Free with a time of 24.51 while teammate Neza Kocijan came in fifth at 24.96.
 
Coming off a strong showing on Friday night, Mackinna Hauff delivered again, placing first in the 3m Dive with a score of 269.25. Sheridan Decker came in third in the same event, notching a score of 235.65.
 
Hemburrow (52.99) and Kocijan (54.27) then went third and fourth in the 100 Free.
 
The 200 Back saw another strong performance from Knagg who placed third with a time of 2:08.30, just in front of Ivanov (2:08.55).
 
In the 200 Breast, senior Lauren Wood placed second recording a 2:23.84 while Barbora Krizanova finished fourth in 2:29.49.
 
Harston and Laporte then went third and fourth in the 500 Free with times of 5:20.11 and 5:21.80 respectively.
 
Then, Hemburrow came in third in the 100 Fly with a time of 59.05, just in front of Nentwich at 59.26.
 
Next, Hauff had another strong showing, this time in the 1m Dive where she finished first with a score of 255.67.
 
Krizanova, Wood and Ashley Reynolds then swept the podium in the 200 IM with times of 2:13.07, 2:13.22 and 2:16.50 respectively.
 
In the final event of the day, the 400 Free, the Aggies again swept the podium with the squad of Ivanov, Laporte, Hemburrow and Kocijan taking first in 3:35.00.
 
"It's still early in the season and those first meets are a little tricky," Pratt added. "But we've got to learn from our mistakes and our losses just as much as from our wins and I know we'll be okay long-term."
 
New Mexico State is back in action as they hit the road to take on Wyoming on Friday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. (MT) before visiting WAC foe Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 11:30 a.m.