Shorthanded Swim and Dive wins third straight duel over New Mexico State

Saturday, October 9

Las Cruces, NM

University of Northern Colorado

167

131

New Mexico State University

10/9/2021 6:15:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

FINAL RESULTS

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Northern Colorado Swim and Dive was back in action on Saturday, picking up right where they left off a week ago at the Intermountain Shootout. Facing fellow WAC opponent New Mexico State, the Bears rattled off its third consecutive duel win over the Aggies, 167-131.

UNC relays have had a dominant start to the 2021-22 campaign. Following a perfect run in Grand Junction, Northern Colorado maintained its winning ways against New Mexico State. The foursome of AJ Popp, Emina Pasukan, Katelyn Bergin and Madelyn Moore came in at 1:44.62 in the 200 medley relay to kick off the meet in style.

Speaking of winning, UNC made a habit of it Saturday. Of the 14 swimming events, the Bears hit the wall first in 13 of them.

After the opening relay win, two-time WAC Swimmer of the Week Anna Austin cranked up the heat in the distance events, touching the wall first in both the 1,000 and 500 free. The Arvada, Colorado native also outswam everyone in the 200 fly with a 2:08.79.

Natalie Kayfes wasn't too far behind Austin, coming in second in both long-distance swims as well.

Freshman Giulia Pavanello earned her first win in the Blue and Gold, clocking a 1:54.78 in the 200 free.

Reigning WAC Swimmer of the Week Madelyn Moore remained the queen of the sprints. Moore clocked the fastest 50 free of the day and her 51.34 in the 100 free was almost a full second faster than second place.

Paula Nunez Blazquez and freshman Hannah Kingscote went 1-2 in the 200 yard back. An event later Chelaine van der Westhuizen and Bryanna Ungs did the same in the 200 breast.

Katelyn Bergin recorded three wins on the day. Not only did the Stockport, England native help out the winning medley relay team, Bergin also dialed up huge swims in the 100 fly and 200 IM.

With a shorthanded squad, the Bears still took second in the 400 free relay which was more than enough to secure the duel win.

DECK TALK
Head coach, Lisa Ebeling
"We had to leave some of our roster behind this weekend, so the girls knew they were going have to step up if we wanted to pull off a win today. There were parts of the meet where fatigue and poor details, especially in our turns, got the better of us but we were still able to race hard and come out on top. NMSU is an incredibly tough team at the end of the season when they are rested, so we still have some work to do if we want to be competitive with them at the WAC Championships."

WHAT'S AHEAD
Northern Colorado returns home on October 23 at 10 a.m. MT. Admission is free.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Swim and Dive, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.