MPSF Open Water Championships Take Place out West

LONG BEACH, CALIF. – NM State Swimming & Diving will make its MPSF debut on Saturday on the league’s Open Water Championships. Five Aggies will make the trek to the Golden State for a distance meet within the coast of the Pacific Ocean at Marine Stadium. After a 5K within the late morning, the group will take part in a 4×500 free relay within the afternoon.
 
Katie Rink, Estel Galo, Bella Schultz, Natalia Florian and Jamie Puhalski will signify the Aggies this weekend. Among the crop are three seniors, headlined by Rink, this system’s all-time file holder within the 500 free and 1000 free. Florian is the lone freshman of the bunch, making the journey after a strong first weekend with this system by which she garnered 4 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 4×500 free relay
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies hosted New Mexico and Utah Tech final 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 along with a 170-90 win over the Trailblazers. The good weekend was highlighted by 20 first-place Aggie finishes in 22 occasions, with Rick Pratt‘s bunch claiming 39 of 66 attainable 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 closing program remaining within the convention. The MPSF homes many acquainted faces, together with California Baptist, Idaho, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, UTRGV and Utah Tech. Pepperdine, Incarnate Word and Pacific and are the one three returning members of the convention, with the Waves lifting the 2024-25 trophy earlier this yr. 
 
THE COACH OF A GENERATION
Rick Pratt entered his 21^st season with NM State this fall, however 2025 is for his first exterior of the WAC. Last yr, Pratt guided this system to its finest yr on file, ending 8-1 with 4 wins in 5 league twin meets. The Aggies racked up 5 gold, one silver and two bronze medals on the WAC Championships, incomes a second-place end for the seventh time previously 10 seasons. 
 
VETERAN EXPERIENCE
The Aggies are returning all however 5 members from the 2024-25 roster, including simply two freshmen within the offseason (Natalia Florian and Willow Messner). In whole, 9 seniors and 7 juniors spearhead a roster with loads of expertise within the pool. 
 
Emily Dobbins, Naomi Slee and Dijana Mazumdar all return after profitable WAC Swimmer of the Week awards in 2024-25. Katie Rink additionally headlines the returning swimmers after a junior marketing campaign by which she set two program information and posted two different top-three occasions. Mira Tinani is within the early levels of her junior season as an Aggie diver, hoping to hold momentum from what was a robust sophomore exhibiting. The Canadian picked up a second-place end within the platform dive on the WAC Championships earlier than a visit to the NCAA Diving Zone E Championship finals in the identical occasion. 
 
UP NEXT

The Aggies will return to motion every week after the meet, doing so from the consolation of their dwelling pool in Las Cruces. The Crimson & White will sq. off towards Northern Colorado in a convention twin 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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