RIVERSIDE, CALIF. – The NM State swimming and diving team used strong performances from several Aggies, including senior Maude Boily-Dufour to claim second place in its final competition before the new year. In total, the Aggies racked up 1,234 points as a team, finishing as one of just two teams to eclipse the 1,000-point mark on the weekend.
 
The Aggies finished just a touch over 100 points shy of the powerhouse that is Northern Arizona while tallying nearly 500 points more than third-place finisher and host school California Baptist.
 
SESSION TWO HIGHLIGHTS
· In Saturday's slew of events, the Aggies claimed seven first-place finishes and posted four season-best Aggie times.
· Day two also saw the Aggies record four top-10 times in the WAC this season as finishers in the 100-yard individual medley, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke each rank among the conference's best.
· Lindsay Puhalski got the Aggies off to a strong as she picked up a first-place finish in the opening event of the day, claiming the top spot in the 400 IM with a time of four minutes and 23.24 seconds.
· Jordan Andrusak also competed well alongside Puhalski as she secured third in the 400 IM (4:26.34).
· The 100 fly event was one of the Aggies' strongest of the day as NM State swimmers earned spots two through six with Maude Boily-Dufour leading the way with a time of 55.70.
· Boily-Dufour's mark was good for the fastest time by an Aggie this season and ranks eighth all-time in program history. This was also good for the sixth-fastest in the WAC thus far.
· The Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, native then backed up her performance in the 100 fly with a first-place finish in the 100 back, reaching the wall at 55.29.
· The Aggies carried their success in the relay events over to day two as Lindsay Puhalski, Airaim Oliva-Aun, Lauren Hemburrow and Neza Kocijan combined to post the fastest 800 free relay time in the WAC this season (7:27.67).
· NM State's best finish in any diving event came at the one-meter height as Italia Aranzabal finished in 6^th place with a score of 237.00. She was also the Aggies top scorer in the three-meter event later in the day.
· The Aggies' best event of the day came in the second race of the afternoon session as NM State swimmers swept the top three spots in the 100 IM.
· Aimee Burton led the way for the Aggies as she posted the WAC's quickest 100 IM time of the year, finishing in just 57.13. Jordan Andrusak and Skylar Welle followed closely behind as they swam to times of 58.29 and 59.15, respectively.
· Boily-Dufour was back to make her claim for WAC Swimmer of the Week as she posted a time of 1:57.92 to set a new pool record at the Lancer Aquatic Center and take the top spot in the 200 back. This is also the fastest time any stopwatch has shown in the event for the Aggies this season and the fourth-fastest in NM State history. Additionally, her performance was good for the second-fastest in the WAC on the year.
· To top off Boily-Dufour's swim, the Aggies went one-two in the 200 back thanks to Puhalski's swim of 2:02.47.
· The Aggies also placed three swimmers among the top five in the 100 free when Aimee Burton took first (51.37), Neza Kocijan took third (52.34) and Airam Oliva-Aun secured fourth (52.41)
· Graduate Student Katherine Harston joined in on the action, posting the team's fastest time in the 200 fly this year to finish third in the event. Her time was 2:05.10.
· The 400 free relay team of Burton, Oliva-Aun, Puhalski and Kocijan wrapped up the day with another first-place finish as they combined for a time of 3:26.40.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"This was a great experience for our team, and we swam really tough over the past couple of days," Pratt noted. "To have many season-best swims in this set-up will pay off tenfold when we get to the end of the season. Our team's attitude and focus were really inspiring and it was great to watch them push each other until the end."
 
UP NEXT
The Aggie swimmer and divers get a nice break before returning to competition on Jan. 8 when they play host to rival Grand Canyon and Ottawa (AZ). The meet with the pair of Arizona schools will just be a single-day event with the first race set to start at approximately 11:30 a.m. (MT). This will also mark the first time that NM State gets to compete in at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex since they welcomed Northern Colorado on Oct. 9 of this year.