ST. GEORGE, UTAH – On the second day of action at the DSU Human Performance Center, the NM State swim team put together nine top-10 finishes across seven events. However, the Aggies slid back one spot in the team standings to sit in fifth-place with cumulative 325 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies top performance came in the third event of the day as Lindsay Puhalski turned in a first-place swim in the 400-yard IM, reaching the wall at four minutes, 21.12 seconds. This marks the fastest time of the year in the event for both Puhalski and the Aggie team this season. Jordan Andrusak also turned in a solid performance in the 400 IM, securing a fifth-place finish with a time of 4:26.34.
 
The 200-yard freestyle proved to be another strong event for head coach Rick Pratt's squad as the Aggies claimed three of the top-nine spots. Neza Kocijan led the pack with a fifth-place finish, turning in a season-best time of 1:51.97. Senior Airam Oliva-Aun followed closely behind, placing seventh with a time of 1:54.18. Lauren Hemburrow then took the top spot in the B-Final to collect ninth overall (1:51.81).
 
Behind Puhalski's first-place finish, Maude Boily-Dufour turned in the Aggies second-best individual outing as she swam to a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (55.13).
 
The 800-yard free relay team of Puhalski, Oliva-Aun, Hemburrow and Kocijan was the Aggies top relay finishing team, touching third with a combined time of 7:30.93. Meanwhile the group of Boily-Dufour, Skylar Welle, Rachel Ponte and Aimee Burton finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"Today our team showed so much grit and courage," Pratt said. "It wasn't the perfect session performance wise and we still have much to work on, but I impressed with their will to put everything into each race and there was much to be proud of. All of our IMers were faster tonight and that is always promising. Lindsay's 400 IM was impressive as were many of the swims tonight. The 800 freestyle relays at the end of the day took a lot of courage and it was awesome to watch our whole team on deck yell and cheer and support each other. With one day left we still have many opportunities and our team is taking advantage of each moment."
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will be back in the pool tomorrow morning for the third and final day of the Dixie State Invitational. Fans can catch day three of events on wacdigitalnetwork.com.