ST. GEORGE, Utah – Maude Boily-Dufour won an individual championship in the 100 Back and the New Mexico State swimming team charged into second place after day three at WAC Championships in St. George, Utah, on Friday night. NM State posted four podium finishes on the night.
 
"Today was so much fun," said head coach Rick Pratt. "To watch our team battle and support each other unselfishly filled me with great pride.  We didn't necessarily swim lights out, but our focus and intensity was great.  Maude really inspired us with her tough back-to-back swims, and smashing our 100 Back record was exciting to watch.  Our medley relay at the end was also an amazing record and Airam touching out two teams for second was a great way to finish the night.  We've got a lot of swims tomorrow and we're going to have to recover and stay mentally tough through the last day."
 
Boily-Dufour got the Aggies going with a third-place finish in the 100 Fly (55.18) before Airam Oliva-Aun also notched third place in the 200 Free (27.63).
 
Then, in the 100 Back, Boily-Dufour got off to a great start and held off challengers from Idaho and Northern Colorado to win her first individual title in the 100 Back. Her 54.04 in the race is a new program record.
 
The Aggies then ended the evening with a strong showing by Boily-Dufour, Skylar Welle, Katherine Harston and Oliva-Aun who finished second in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:45.14.
 
As a team, NM State now sits in second place with 371 points and one more day of competition at swimming WAC Championships. Seven-time defending champion NAU sits in first place with 399 points. After next week's diving meet, scores will be combined and a champion will be named.
 
Aggie swimmers will be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 20, with preliminary action beginning at 11 a.m. (MT) and finals taking place at 6 p.m. Aggie fans can stream prelims live on WAC Digital or on Facebook Live, provided by the WAC. Finals are set to broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
Full Standings
1. Northern Arizona                                    399
2. New Mexico State                                    371
3. Northern Colorado                                  338
4. Grand Canyon                                          311
5. California Baptist                                    253
6. Idaho                                                           213
7. Dixie State                                                  182
8. Seattle U                                                     117
 
WAC Swimming Championships Schedule
 
Saturday, Feb. 20
Prelims, 11 a.m.
Finals, 6 p.m.
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
1650 free
400 free relay
 
WAC Diving Championships Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 25
3-meter
 
Friday, Feb. 26
1-meter
 
Saturday, Feb. 27
Platform