Bears Defeat New Mexico State

Saturday, October 14

Las Cruces, New Mexico

11:30 AM

University of Northern Colorado

169

131

New Mexico State

Photo by: Jam David

10/14/2023 9:39:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Final Meet Results

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Northern Colorado swimming and diving team defeated New Mexico State 169-131 Saturday at the New Mexico State Swimming and Diving Complex.

"Today was a lot of fun," head coach Lisa Ebeling said. "New Mexico State always gives us great competition and pushes us out of our comfort zone."

The Bears won 12 of the 16 events, claiming two podium positions in nine of the 15 races. UNC defeated the Aggies for the fifth-straight time, dating back to Oct. 13, 2018.

"Our girls stepped up and swam a lot faster than we have in previous years at this time," Ebeling said. "We are coming off a heavy training week so it will be exciting to see how they do after we fine tune some details and get a little rest in November. It was great to watch our freshmen step up, race hard and win some big events for the team."

Maria Erokhina accrued four victories, including individual titles in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-yard IM.

In the first swimming event, the quartet of Martina Yuki Trionfetti, Erokhina, Payten Irwin and Ali Jackson won the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:45.25. Katelyn Bergin, Bryanna Ungs, Ellyson Lombardi and Saana Liikonen joined them on the podium in third with a time of 1:46.75.

Kyra Rabess followed with a 10:26.27 in the 1000-yard freestyle, earning the second of six-consecutive victories for the Bears. In the shorter 500-yard freestyle race, Rabess won in a time of 5:04.72.

Elizabeth Mayer paced the 200-yard freestyle field, with a time of 1:53.17 and finished third in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking a time of 5:12.89.

Trionfetti added individual titles to her tally, with a 56.92 in the 100-yard backstroke and a 51.77 in the 100-yard freestyle.

Erokhina and Ungs added to their collection, taking the top two spots in the 100-yard breaststroke. Erokhina touched the wall in a time of 1:03.87, followed by her teammate's 1:05.06. The duo claimed the top spots in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Erokhina posting a winning time of 2:17.88, while Ungs registered 2:24.16.

Erokhina posted a winning time of 2:08.72 in the 200-yard IM, while Bergin placed third at 2:11.40.

Irwin and Lombardi registered two more podium finishes each, with Irwin earning a pair of wins. In the 200-yard butterfly, Irvin won by three one-hundreths of a second in 2:05.22 and Lombardi clocked a 2:08.07. Irwin inked a 56.71 in the 100-yard butterfly, while Lombardi took home third with a time of 57.84.

Jackson placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.32, followed by Liikonen at 24.71.

Daniela Piccinini took second in the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 2:10.56, .02 ahead of Sloane Antonetz.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, UNC won in a time of 3:29.80, with Triofetti, Liikonen, Rabess and Jackson filling the four positions for the Bears.

In diving action, Kyriana Chambo and Madison Berg earned third-place finishes. Chambo posted a score of 200.03 on the 1-meter springboard, while Berg accrued 189.15 points on the 3-meter springboard.

The Bears return to the pool in their first home meet of the season, Saturday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m. against Idaho.