LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State swimming and diving team was back in action this weekend as they welcomed fellow Western Athletic Conference members Northern Arizona and UTRGV for a pair of events across Friday and Saturday at the NM State Swimming and Diving Complex
 
NM State opened the weekend with a commanding win in a relay meet against UTRGV as they came out on top in all six events to claim a 69-31 victory over the Vaqueros. The Aggies followed up this performance with another impressive showing on Saturday as they picked up wins over both UTRGV which is the newest WAC member and NAU which has won the last 11 WAC titles. With wins in 11 events, the Aggies earned a 165-135 win over the Lumberjacks and a 241.5-58.5 win over the Vaqueros in the triangular.
 
FRIDAY (RELAY MEET) | NM State 69, UTRGV 31
 
On Friday, NM State flexed its muscles by earning first-place finishes in each of the relays. The team of Kira Brownell, Kodi Wiman, Emily Dobbins and Dijana Mazumdar opened things with a win in the 400 medley relay – posting a time of 3:56.28. This was followed by a win in the 300 butterfly relay from the trio of Emma Bacon, Faye McDonagh and Estel Galo.
 
The top spot in the 300 back relay also belonged to the home squad as Elizabeth Cervantes-Vanderlugt, Naomi Slee and Anna Uren raced their way to a first-place finish. Foteini Charitou, Arleen Rumbaum and Kira Brownell then joined forces to give the Aggies their fourth win of the evening as they secured the No. 1 placement in the 300 breaststroke relay.
 
NM State also placed first in the 300 medley relay with Faye McDonagh, Emily Dobbins and Kodi Wiman swimming their way to the top of the podium. The meet then closed out with the Aggies picking up a win in the 500 free as Katie Rink, Naomi Slee, Dijana Mazumdar and Callie Ceshker finished as the fastest team in the unique event featuring a 200 free, 150 free, 100 free and 50 free.
 
SATURDAY | NM State 165, NAU 135; NM State 241.5, UTRGV 58.5
 
NM State carried its momentum from Friday into the meet on Saturday as they earn an impressive win over a pair of conference programs. The Aggies set the tone in the very first event as they earned a thrilling victory in the 200 medley relay. In the relay, Emily Dobbins, Kodi Wiman, Faye McDonagh and Caroline Costantini battled their way to a first-place finish with a time of 1:43.78.
 
Junior Katie Rink then helped add to the Aggies' total with a second-place finish in the 1000 free. With an altitude adjusted time of 10:03.03, Rink surpassed the school record previously set by teammate Naomi Slee two seasons ago. Rink now holds the program record by more than four seconds. Rink would also prove to be the best in the 500 free as she finished just two-tenths of a second ahead of NAU's Casey Craffey for the top spot in the second distance event of the meet. Rink's time in the 500 was also good for a pool record. In the 500, Naomi Slee also turned in a time faster than the previous pool record on her way to finishing third in the event
 
NM State then secured the top two spots in the ensuing event as Dijana Mazumdar and Naomi Slee went 1-2 with times of 1:50.64 and 1:51.28, respectively. The pair of Aggies brought the best out of each other as both times were quicker than the previous pool record entering the day.
 
Emily Dobbins followed this strong swim with a first-place finish in the 100 back as she out-touched NAU's Gracie Munk to finish with a time of 55.95 – just two one-hundredths of a second faster than her Lumberjack opponent. The Australian would also show her prowess in the 200 back as she finished with a time of 2:01.97 to outpace the field for her second win of the meet.
 
For the second time of the meet, two NM State swimmers reached the wall first as Faye McDonagh and Kodi Wiman finished first and second, respectively, in the 100 breast.
 
Freshman Dijana Mazumdar would later tally her second individual win as she secured the top spot in the 50 free with a speedy time of 23.50. Mazumdar would continue her strong day as she also managed a first-place finish in the 100 free in the next swim event – posting a time of 50.93.
 
Later, Kodi Wiman submitted the top time in the 200 breast as she finished with a time of 2:18.51 to claim the Aggies' third-straight win.
 
The Aggies would then secure a sweep of the podium in the final individual event of the meet as Estel Galo raced to a win in the 400 IM as she posted a time of 4:32.11 while Faye McDonagh finished second (4:33.72) and Riley Crespo finished third (4:35.04).
 
NM State also turned in a pool record in the final event of the day as the relay team of Emily Dobbins, Dijana Mazumdar, Naomi Slee and Katie Rink combined to post a time of 3:23.81 to finished nearly three seconds ahead of the next closest finisher in the 400 free relay.
 
The Aggie divers also competed in a pair of events alongside the divers from NAU and UTRGV. In the 3-meter, NM State's Mira Tinani posted a score of 278.65 to place third among a talented group of competitors. Meanwhile, Tinani was also the Aggies' top finisher from the 1-meter board as she posted a score of 234.40 to finish fifth in the field of 11 divers.