ST. GEORGE, UTAH – The NM State swim team turned in a fifth-place finish in its first invitational-style meet of the year as it concluded its final day of events at Dixie State on Saturday night. As a unit, the Aggies posted 455 total points to finish 94 points ahead of the sixth-place team in CSU Bakersfield.
 
On the day, the Aggies compiled seven top-10 individual finishes while adding a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies' best showing came in the 200-yard backstroke as they were represented by a pair of top-five racers. Senior Maude Boily-Dufour turned in NM State's first sub-two-minute swim in the event as she took second with a time of one minute, 59.79 seconds. Meanwhile, Lindsay Puhalski finished close behind to collect fifth-place, reaching the wall in 2:01.97.
 
The 100-yard freestyle was another sound event for the Aggies, securing three of the top-10 times. Aimee Burton and Airam Oliva-Aun finished with just one-tenth of a second in between them as Burton finished sixth (51.27) and Oliva-Aun secured seventh-place (51.37).
 
In the 1650-yard freestyle, a pair of Aggies finished in the top half of the field. Nicole Salladin showed off her endurance to come in tenth-place, logging a time of 17:31.73, while Zoey Dodson posted a time of 17:44.64 to place 15^th.
 
To close out the meet for the Aggies, Aimee Burton, Airam Oliva-Aun, Lindsay Puhalski and Neza Kocijan turned in a top-three placement in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The group put together a time of 3:24.78 in the lone relay of the final day.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"This was a great experience for our team and will prepare us well for the second half of the season," head coach Rick Pratt noted. "We still have much to work on and this was not a perfect meet, but it's a positive indication of the work we're putting in and the grit of our team.  To swim as well with little rest after all the work we've put in this fall is pretty impressive and moving forward our team should feel very motivated to keep getting better. Our seniors, as always, really set the tone with their energy and I know our younger swimmers will continue to get better."
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies have nearly a month off before they are back in the pool with swimmers not wearing NM State caps. On Friday, Dec. 17, NM State will travel to Riverside, Calif., to compete in the California Baptist Invitational for two days. The Aggies last competed in the invite in 2018 when they took home the team title with a total of 1,683 points.