LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Despite some resistance from some Southwest rain, the Aggies officially began their 2022-23 campaign as they hosted North Texas on Friday afternoon.
NM State opened the season on a strong note – defeating the Mean Green, 150-88, in the home-opening meet at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex.
SWIMMING
- The Aggies kicked off the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay as the team of Maude Boily-Dufour, Aimee Burton, Rachel Ponte and Kira Brownell combined to finish at 1:47.15.
- Noami Slee, Zoey Dodson and Millie Sicko then continued the Aggies' winning ways as they finished 1-2-3 in the 1000 yard freestyle following the opening relay. Slee turned in the top time as she finished at 10:31.66.
- Katie Rink came in as the first-place finisher in the 200 free – reaching the wall at 1:56.42 in her debut as an Aggie.
- Aimee Burton then followed Rink with a win in the 50 free (23.85) while Kira Brownell also finished among the top three in the sprint.
- The podium was full of Aggies again in the 400 IM as Lindsay Puhalski led the way with a time of 4:36.83 while Estel Galo and Molly Hill finished in second and third, respectively.
- Following her second-place finish in the 400 IM, freshman Estel Galo turned in a first-place finish in the 200 fly – finishing in 2:08.34.
- Aimee Burton then picked up her second win of the day as she came in ahead of the competition in the 100 free (52.55).
- Thea Masselink began her NM State career with a win in the 200 back – finishing with a time of 2:06.01.
- Naomi Slee then flexed her long-distance muscles for the second time of the meet as she was the fastest swimmer in the 500 free (5:06.18) after claiming first in the 1000.
- To conclude the meet, the quartet of Lindsay Puhalski, Naomi Slee and Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt raced to the win in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:33.35.
DIVING
- Italia Aranzabal recorded the top-scoring dive at the one-meter height as she notched a final score of 228.08.
- Aranzabal was also the Aggies' top scorer in the three-meter event as she posted a total score of 211.28.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"Really proud of our team with today's win. Our freshmen were fun to watch, and we had great energy despite the rain and adversity we faced. We've still got a lot of work to do but it was a great start and I'm excited to watch our group continue to grow."
++NM State++
