THE STARTING BLOCK
• The NM State swimming and diving team heads west to take part in the CBU Lancers Winter Invitational at the Lancer Aquatics Center in Riverside, Calif.
• Including Rick Pratt's squad, the invite will feature seven different schools as California Baptist, San Diego, Northern Arizona, Linfield, Concordia, Biola and Cal Poly are all set to compete.
• This weekend marks just the second time in NM State program history that the Aggies take part in an invite on the CBU campus as they also competed in the Lancer Invite in December 2018.
 
LAST TIME OUT | DIXIE STATE INVITATIONAL | 5TH PLACE
• The Aggies most recent competition came nearly one month ago when they took fifth place with a total of 455 points in the Dixie State Invitational on Nov. 18-20.
• With ten programs competing, the Aggies finished in the top half thanks in part to efforts from Lindsay Puhalski and Aimee Burton.
• In the three-day event, Puhalski landed a first-place finish in the 400-yard IM (four minutes, 12.12 seconds) and helped a pair of relay teams to top-three finishes.
• Burton had a strong opening day as she turned in a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.08.
• Maude Boily-Dufour matched Burton's placement as she finished second in the 100-yard backstroke. She also secured a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.79.
• "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," Head Coach Rick Pratt said of the event.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
• The Aggies will see stout competition this week as they battle with two of the WAC's top programs in California Baptist and Northern Arizona.
• NAU has secured the top spot at the WAC Championships for eight consecutive years, while California Baptist's three years in the conference already includes a second-place finish in 2020.
• The Toreros of San Diego will also bring a strong team to Riverside as they have dual meet wins over Seattle U and Loyola Marymount and are coming off a first-place finish in the ELAC Invite in November.
 
PRATT PREVIEW
"It's been an incredibly busy and productive semester for our team," said Coach Pratt. "They've dealt with the workload and school very well and I'm really proud of our group. Our grades were outstanding and with the semester behind us, this weekend will be another chance to get a lot of racing under our belts in a different format, and with some great competition. These three sessions will take some grit and determination and I feel confident our team is up to the challenge. Overall, this trip will be a lot of fun for our whole group and a great experience to set us up for the second half of the season."
 
COMING UP NEXT
• The CBU Lancers Winter Invitational will mark the final competition for the Aggies in 2021 as they will not return to the pool until Jan. 8, 2022, when they host Grand Canyon and Ottawa (AZ).
• NM State will have a total of three meets in the month of January, including a meet with I-25 rival New Mexico on Jan. 29, in the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex.