THE STARTING BLOCK
• The NM State swimming and diving team is set to make the trip to The Grand Canyon State to match up with WAC foe Northern Arizona on Saturday.
• The weekend duel will mark the first competition for the Aggies since they participated in the California Baptist Invitational on Dec. 17-18.
• NM State has competed against the Lumberjacks in a similar format 20 times since 2004 with their last meeting coming on Nov. 23, 2019.
• In 2019, the Aggies turned in a dominant performance to claim their largest margin of victory over Northern Arizona, winning 180-133 in the two-day meet.
• The Aggies also frequently compete against the Lumberjacks in invitational settings and most recently saw NAU when the two programs finished 1-2 at the CBU Invite.
 
LAST TIME OUT | CALIFORNIA BAPTIST INVITATIONAL - 2ND PLACE
• The last time the Aggies competed was in mid-December when they took on a field of seven programs and finished in the second spot with a point total of 1,234 over the two-day event in Riverside, Calif.
• Competing alongside top competition, including Northern Arizona, the Aggies were led by senior Maude Boily-Dufour who claimed WAC Swimmer of the Week for her efforts at the invite.
• On day one, the Aggies earned four individual first-place finishes while also claiming the top spot in a pair of relay events to help sit atop the standings after one day of competition.
• Boily-Dufour, Lindsay Puhalski paced the Aggies on the opening day as they combined for three first-place finishes.
• Boily-Dufour took first in the 50-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 25.85 seconds.
• Puhalski out-swam her competitors in both the 50 butterfly (25.23) and 200 individual medley (2:02.87). Both swims were the fastest by any Aggie this year and her 200 IM time was a personal best.
• The second day of competition saw Boily-Dufour continue her strong weekend as she took first in the 100 fly, reaching the wall at 55.29.
• Boily-Dufour's top swim also came on day two as she set a new pool record with a first-place time of 1:57.92 in the 200 back.
• The 400 free relay team of Aimee Burton, Airam Oliva-Aun, Lindsay Puhalski and Neza Kocijan also combined to earn a first-place finish, posting a time of 3:26.40.
• "Our team's attitude and focus were really inspiring and it was great to watch them push each other until the end," Head Coach Rick Pratt said of the effort put forth at the CBU Invite.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
• Despite the Aggies' head-to-head success in 2019, the Lumberjacks have been the atop the WAC for quite some time as they have staked claim to the last eight WAC Championships and have not finished outside of the top-5 in the final standings since joining the conference in 2005.
• At the CBU Invite, the Aggies finished just a hair over 100 points shy of Northern Arizona who claimed the top spot in the team standings.
• On the season, the Lumberjacks are 4-1 with their lone head-to-head loss coming at Grand Canyon on Dec. 11.
• In addition to its first-place finish at the CBU Invite, Northern Arizona also has a second-place finish at the A3 Performance Invite on Nov. 18-19, in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
PRATT PREVIEW
"NAU always brings out the best of our team and we've had an awesome stretch of preparation and the team looks very sharp this week," Pratt said. "With less than five weeks until the WAC Championships, we need to take advantage of every opportunity, and this will be a good one. For us to be successful we'll have to be very tough and win some close races. NAU is a very good team with many strong competitors and this trip should be a great experience."

COMING UP NEXT
• Following the Aggies trip to Arizona, NM State will return home for its final home meet of the season when they host rival New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 29.
• The clash with the Lobos will also be Senior Day for NM State as they send off 11 seniors. The meet is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex.