NMSU swimming program wins first MPSF dual in history

NM State swimming & diving picked up its first-ever MPSF victory Jan. 10 knocking off University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on the road at the site of this year’s conference championship meet. The Aggies, who joined the league just last summer, picked up the first dual win in program history, taking 13 victories in 16 events, prevailing by a 209-149 tally.   

“Today was very productive and we had some great efforts in the pool," said head coach Rick Pratt. "It was hard to find speed after the heavy training and travel this week, but they were persistent and finished their races well with good skills. We had several best dual meet in-suits performances and over all were in a great place moving forward."

The quartet of Jamie Puhalski, Foteini Charitou, Willow Messner, and Callie Ceshker opened up the day with a victory in the 200 medley relay (1:48.14), mere hundredths of a second ahead of their teammates. Thea Masselink, Kodi Wiman, Emily Dobbins and Caroline Costantini, who tallied a time of 1:48.21.

The podium was a clean sweep in the 1000 free, with Katie Rink (10:36.13), Estel Galo (10:59.11) and Riley Crespo (11:00.01) all clearing the best Vaquero mark. Three more Aggies medaled in the ensuing 200 free, with Dijana Mazumdar (1:53.64), Naomi Slee (1:54.97) and Dreamer Kowatch (1:57.76) taking the hardware.

One of UTRGV’s three event wins came in the 100 back, however Dobbins (58.00) and Masselink (58.71) both touched the wall less than a second later. Two more Crimson & White swimmers then posted top-three times in the 100 breast. Charitou took the crown at 1:07.01, exactly three tenths of a second ahead of Wiman for another 1-2 finish. 

Messner and Galo kept the gold and silver results coming, tallying a 2:07.95 and 2:08.61, respectively, in the 200 fly. Then, Mazumdar (24.39) and Rink (24.81) were the first two to touch the wall in the 50 free.

Mira Tinani made her first splash of the day with a second-place dive on the 3m board, notching a 252.00. Addison Pastiak (237.60), Megan Ono (230.63) and Peytton Moore (226.95) rounded out the field of seven.

Mazumdar notched another victory in the 100 free, tallying a 52.52 ahead of teammates Ceshker (54.24) and Kowatch (54.43) on the podium. In the 200 back, Masselink and Puhalski then went 2-3 as the duo touched the wall in 2:05.95 and 2:06.18, respectively. 

Charitou and Wiman followed up with yet another event title, taking first and second with times of 2:25.03 and 2:25.46 in the 200 breast. In the ensuing race, Slee, Rink and Galo swept the trophies, all finishing seven seconds ahead of any Vaquero in the 500 free.

The 100 fly belonged to Messner (58.10) and Dobbins (59.76) as the only two to record sub-minute times. Then, the divers returned for their final showing on the 1m board. Tinani wowed once again, fighting out a win with a 272.70 score. Pastiak’s 211.87 was good for third, while Ono (174.00) and Moore (166.50) went 6-7.

Slee and Crespo went 1 and 3 in the 200 IM, notching a 2:09.11 and 2:13.95 mark, respectively. Finally, the 400 free relay rounded out the afternoon. Dobbins, Mazumdar, Costantini and Rink took gold with a 3:33.90 posting. Less than five seconds later, a second-place grouping of Puhalski, Messner, Ceshker and Kowatch reached the wall.

With 35 of the 48 possible podium spots going their way, the visitors cruised to victory. The group claimed its second straight dual victory, doing so by a 60-point margin on Saturday.

Rick Pratt's bunch is set to return Jan. 29. The divers will be in action at NAU's Lumberjack Diving Invite, spanning three days through Saturday, Jan. 31. That morning, the swimmers will hit the pool back home for a rivalry face-off with New Mexico. The Battle of I-25 is slated to start at 11:30 a.m. from Las Cruces as the Aggies celebrate their senior class.