LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State has consistently been improving throughout the season and that was evident on Saturday as the Aggies defeated Idaho, 171-93, while earning the program's first-ever win over Grand Canyon, 162-138.
 
The day started with a second-place finish from the quartet of Maude Boily-Dufour, Aimee Burton, Rachel Ponte and Lindsay Puhalski in the 200-yard medley relay as they combined to post a time of 1:47.72.
 
Next, freshman phenom Naomi Slee did what she's been doing all season: dominate a long-distance race. Slee went 10:30.97 to take the top spot in the 1000 free. Slee also paced the field in the 500 free later in the day as she finished the race with a time of 5:07.70.
 
Lindsay Puhalski's performance in the 200 free gave the Aggies wins in back-to-back events as she posted a time of 1:54.44 to finish more than two seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. Puhalski also turned in a win in the 200 back as she posted a time of 2:07.48. Puhalski's strong day continued in the day's penultimate race as she took gold in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.62.
 
Thea Masselink then made it three wins in a row for NM State as she reached the wall one-tenth of a second before the second-place finisher in the 100 backstroke.
 
The speedy Aimee Burton also picked up a win on Senior Day as she posted a time of 23.52 in the 50 free. Later, Burton snagged a first-place finish in the 100 free – posting a time of 51.92.
 
NM State landed two divers on the podium in the 3-meter dive as Lily Ellis finished second with a score of 233.93 and Casey Schmidt secured third by racking up 230.18 points. Meanwhile, in the 1-meter event, Kate Malinowski's score of 248.25 was the top score for all divers in the event.
 
The Aggies then wrapped up the morning with a win in the 400 free relay as the team of Aimee Burton, Naomi Slee, Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt and Lina Khiyara posted a time of 3:32.46.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
"Today was special for our team in many ways. Celebrating our seniors who have sacrificed so much was important. Our team's mission was to compete for them and the results speak for themselves.
 
"Our first races were a little stiff with the weather, but when things warmed up, we got better and better as the meet went on. Overall, we showed a lot of determination, poise and grit today and these wins should give us much confidence heading into the final stretch of our season. Our seniors all had some great moments and really lead us. Today was fun!"
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will be back in action three weeks from today when they travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to duel with rival New Mexico on Jan. 28.