LONG BEACH, CALIF. – NM State Swimming & Diving will make its MPSF debut on Saturday at the league's Open Water Championships. Five Aggies will make the trek to the Golden State for a distance meet in the coast of the Pacific Ocean at Marine Stadium. After a 5K in the late morning, the group will participate in a 4x500 free relay in the afternoon.
 
Katie Rink, Estel Galo, Bella Schultz, Natalia Florian and Jamie Puhalski will represent the Aggies this weekend. Among the crop are three seniors, headlined by Rink, the program's all-time record holder in the 500 free and 1000 free. Florian is the lone freshman of the bunch, making the trip after a solid first weekend with the program in which she garnered four podium finishes. 
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Who: NM State at MPSF Open Water Championships
Where: Marine Stadium – Long Beach, Calif.
When: Saturday, Oct. 18 (11:30 AM)
Live Stats: Athlinks
Live Stream: GOLS
 
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
11:30 AM MT: Women's 5K free 
3:15 PM MT: Women's 4x500 free relay
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies hosted New Mexico and Utah Tech last weekend for a two-day affair. Friday stood alone as a relay meet, with the hosts cruising to a 76-26 victory over Utah Tech and prevailing 90-12 over UNM. 
 
On Saturday, NM State crushed the Lobos 203-87 in addition to a 170-90 win over the Trailblazers. The perfect weekend was highlighted by 20 first-place Aggie finishes in 22 events, with Rick Pratt's bunch claiming 39 of 66 possible podium spots.
 
NEW CONFERENCE, SAME MISSION
The Aggies joined the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in July, bidding farewell to the WAC after standing as NM State's final program remaining in the conference. The MPSF houses many familiar faces, including California Baptist, Idaho, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, UTRGV and Utah Tech. Pepperdine, Incarnate Word and Pacific and are the only three returning members of the conference, with the Waves lifting the 2024-25 trophy earlier this year. 
 
THE COACH OF A GENERATION
Rick Pratt entered his 21^st season with NM State this fall, but 2025 is for his first outside of the WAC. Last year, Pratt guided the program to its best year on record, finishing 8-1 with four wins in five league dual meets. The Aggies racked up five gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the WAC Championships, earning a second-place finish for the seventh time in the past 10 seasons. 
 
VETERAN EXPERIENCE
The Aggies are returning all but five members from the 2024-25 roster, adding just two freshmen in the offseason (Natalia Florian and Willow Messner). In total, nine seniors and seven juniors spearhead a roster with plenty of experience in the pool. 
 
Emily Dobbins, Naomi Slee and Dijana Mazumdar all return after winning WAC Swimmer of the Week awards in 2024-25. Katie Rink also headlines the returning swimmers after a junior campaign in which she set two program records and posted two other top-three times. Mira Tinani is in the early stages of her junior season as an Aggie diver, hoping to carry momentum from what was a strong sophomore showing. The Canadian picked up a second-place finish in the platform dive at the WAC Championships before a trip to the NCAA Diving Zone E Championship finals in the same event. 
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will return to action a week after the meet, doing so from the comfort of their home pool in Las Cruces. The Crimson & White will square off against Northern Colorado in a conference dual meet on Saturday, Oct. 18. The swimmers will first hit the NM State Swimming & Diving Complex pool at 10:00 AM.
 
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