HOUSTON – On Friday, NM State wrapped up its stay at the Phill Hansel Invitational. The Aggies finished the three-day event with 571 points, securing an eighth-place finish at Houston's meet. The Crimson & White ended the competition ahead of San Jose State (431), Vanderbilt (365.5) and New Mexico (265).
 
Head Coach Rick Pratt, on the meet: "We finished the meet really strong and today was our best day by far. That's hopefully a good sign of our training and should give us great confidence moving forward. We still have some things to figure out, but in general this was a great experience and sets us up well moving forward. I was especially impressed with the progress the divers made this weekend. To see all four score on tower today and to have Mira medal and the other three also make finals was outstanding."
 
Katie Rink (14^th) opened up the scoring for NM State with a 17:01.65 mark in the 1650 free. Estel Galo came in 17^th with a time of 17:07.36, earning nine more points. Natalia Florian, Jamie Puhalski and Naomi Slee all finished with top-two times between the D and E Finals, with Florian leading the pack at 2:00.60. 
 
Dijana Mazumdar made her way to the 100 free A Final, posting an eighth-place finish with a 50.40. Elsewhere in the event, Emily Dobbins' 50.84 garnered a second-place time in the C Final while Caroline Costantini won the E Final in 51.31.
 
Kodi Wiman (B) and Foteini Charitou (C) each won their finals race in the 200 breast, clocking times of 2:14.68 and 2:15.05, combining for 29 points. Willow Messner (D) and Estel Galo (E) did the same in the 200 fly, claiming victory in each heat.
 
The grouping of Mazumdar, Dobbins, Costantini and Rink teamed up for a fifth-place showing (3:21.18) in the 400 free relay, nabbing 50 points for Rick Pratt's squad. Finally, the divers hit the platform to close out the meet and the Aggies did not disappoint.
 
All four NM State divers reached the A or B Final, including Peytton Moore (183.35) and Megan Ono (185.90). In the top class, Addison Pastiak secured eighth place with a mark of 209.40 before junior standout Mira Tinani delivered the best performance of the week. The Canadian recorded a 250.60, earning bronze in the event and recording the highest total from participants outside of hosting Houston. 
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will head to Denton, Texas, for a dual meet against North Texas on Dec. 19. NM State toppled the Eagles last year by a score of 138-104 in Las Cruces. The Saturday dual meet will be held at the Pohl Recreation Center & PEB Natatorium, with the action slated to begin at 11:00 AM MT. 
 
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