PHARR, Texas – After turning in a new school record on the first day of the 2023 WAC Championships, NM State decided it would take its level of performance to a whole new level on Thursday as the Aggies found the podium four times while setting three new school records at the City of Pharr Natatorium. With two days of competition in the books, NM State finds itself slotted in third place on the team leaderboard as they have compiled 191 points.
 
"To break three school records today in three individual events was very inspiring and I'm super proud of our team," said Head Coach Rick Pratt. "We were on fire tonight and owned the deck.  We're halfway through the meet but have so many events left. Tomorrow's a big day and we've got to keep this energy going."
 
During the prelims, freshman Naomi Slee turned in a program record in the 500 free as she finished the race in four minutes and 50.46 seconds to earn the second seed in the finals event later in the day.
 
Lindsay Puhalski then moved the measuring stick in the 200 individual medley as she broke her own record by reaching the wall at 2:00.59 to head into finals as the top overall seed.
 
The Aggie divers were also in action on Thursday morning as they looked to qualify for finals in the 1-meter event. Italia Aranzabal did just that as she secured 245.40 points to guarantee her spot as one of the top divers in the conference. Aranzabal would later go on to finish eighth on the 1-meter board with a finals score of 250.35.
 
Once onto the finals portion of the day, Aimee Burton kept the record-breaking theme going as she led off the 200 free relay with a 22.70 split to break her own school record by one-tenth of a second. Burton's lead leg put her squad in a great position as Kira Brownell, Katie Rink and Lindsay Puhalski would go on to close out the race and give the Aggies their first podium finish of the day – finishing in third with a time of 1:32.37.
 
After setting the 500 free record in the morning session, Naomi Slee went even lower during the finals of the 500 free as she claimed silver with a time of 4:47.72 – equaling the Aggies' best finish through two days of action.
 
Later, Lindsay Puhalski would maintain her position as one of the premier individual medley swimmers in the conference as she turned in a time of 2:00.62 in the finals of the 200 IM to finish third and collect her third medal of the week.
 
Aimee Burton then joined Naomi Slee to become the second Aggie with a silver medal hanging from her neck as she submitted a time of 22.80 in the final women's event of the evening.
 
NM State will be back for the third day of the WAC Championships tomorrow morning. Friday's events include the 400 IM, the 100 butterfly, the 200 free, the 100 breast, the 100 back, the platform dive and the 400 medley relay.
 
Prelims are slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. MT while finals will start at 4:55 p.m. For those watching in the United States, prelims will be available on WAC International while finals will be available on ESPN+. International viewers may watch the entire day's events on WAC International.

Day Two Standings
1. Northern Arizona - 367 points
2. Grand Canyon - 242 points
3. NM State - 191 points
4. Northern Colorado - 168 points
5. California Baptist - 135 points
6. Idaho - 134 points
7. Utah Tech - 122 points
8. Seattle U - 102 points