Arizona Splashes to Victory: Swimming and Diving Team Faces 80.5-162.5 Defeat

TUCSON, Ariz. (Jan. 3, 2025) – The women’s swimming and diving squad from Northern Arizona faced off against the Arizona Wildcats in a dual competition, resulting in a score of 80.5-162.5.

“Today was a challenging meet against a formidable adversary. Overall, our performance and mindset were commendable coming off a holiday recess and travel, and we are eager to get back to it,” commented head swimming coach Andy Johns.

The competition commenced with the 400-yard medley relay, in which the NAU A team comprising of Gracie Munk, Cydnie Perkins, Elsa Musselman, and Bena Koehn recorded the quickest time for the Lumberjacks, achieving a combined time of 3:48.80, landing in third position.

Munk secured second place in the 200-yard backstroke clocking in at 2:05.55 and finished fifth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.00.

Perkins triumphed in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.18 and claimed third in the 200-yard individual medley registering a time of 2:10.82.

Musselman achieved first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.47, and alongside teammates Kokona Watanabe, Kaci Kelaher, and Koehn, secured third in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:36.46.

Watanabe’s 100-yard freestyle time of 52.91 earned her fourth place as the swiftest Lumberjack in that event.

Casey Craffey was the leading Lumberjack in the 1000-yard freestyle, recording a time of 10:25.95 to finish second, followed closely by Kylie Ney at 10:38.29. Craffey also came in second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:10.88, while Ney landed fourth with a time of 5:12.45.

Helena Robla achieved third place in the 200-yard freestyle clocking in at 1:52.96.

In the 1-meter diving event, Mackenna Stocker scored 265.20 to tie for second. She also excelled in the 3-meter diving with a score of 262.43, taking the top position.

Victoria Knapp registered 246.75 in the 1-meter dive for fourth place and 246.00 in the 3-meter dive also securing fourth position.

The Northern Arizona diving squad will next participate in the California Baptist Invite from Jan. 9-11 in Riverside, California. Meanwhile, the swimmers are preparing to challenge Utah Tech for the second time this season from Jan. 24-25 in St. George, Utah.

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