Aggie Swim Heads to Houston for Phill Hansel Invitational

NM State to begin three-day event on Wednesday.

Source: NMSU Athletics
Photo: Courtesy
Article By: Michael Navarrette

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State will be back in the pool this weekend as they visit East Texas for a three-day swim meet in Houston. This weekend, the Aggies will compete alongside swimmers from Houston, Rice, Florida Gulf Coast, New Mexico, Nevada, Air Force and San Jose State.

Meet Five
NM State (2-1) at Phill Hansel Invitational (Hosted by The University of Houston)
Wednesday, November 20 – Friday, November 22 | Prelims begin at 9 a.m. MT
CRWC Natatorium (1,000) | Houston, Texas
WATCH | DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3
LIVE RESULTS

THE STARTING BLOCK
• Following a pair of home meets, the Aggie swimmers will compete in a midseason event which will feature 19 events across three days.
• In their last meet, the Aggies earned a pair of wins over WAC opponents Northern Arizona and UTRGV – defeating the Lumberjacks 163-137 and the Vaqueros 242-59.
• This weekend, there will be five heats for each event, with A-B-C finals being scored.
• Prelims are scheduled to start at 10 a.m., with finals starting at 4 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Thursday and 3 p.m. MT on Friday.
• This weekend’s meet will take place at the CRWC Natatorium where the Aggies will return at the end of February to compete in the 2024-25 WAC Championships.
• This year’s Aggie roster includes two seniors, 10 juniors, eight sophomores and 11 freshmen. NM State will be led by First Team All-WAC honorees Emily Dobbins, Naomi Slee, Kodi Wiman and Katie Rink. Additionally, the Aggies return nine Second Team All-WAC honorees in Estel Galo, Thea Masselink, Riley Crespo, Mira Tinani, Kathryn Gyde, Emily Dobbins, Katie Rink, Dreamer Kowatch and Naomi Slee.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, Nov. 20
200 Free Relay
*500 Free
*200 IM
*50 Free
400 Medley Relay

Thursday, Nov. 21
200 Medley Relay
*100 Butterfly
*400 IM
*200 Free
*100 Breaststroke
*100 Backstroke
800 Free Relay

Friday, Nov. 22
1650 Freestyle
*200 Backstroke
*100 Freestyle
*200 Breaststroke
*200 Butterfly
400 Freestyle Relay

* Will have prelims earlier in the day.

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 163, Northern Arizona 137 & NM State 242, UTRGV 59 | RECAP
• The Aggies set the tone in the very first event as they earned a thrilling victory in the 200 medley relay. In the relay, Emily Dobbins, Kodi Wiman, Faye McDonagh and Caroline Costantinibattled their way to a first-place finish with a time of 1:43.78.
• Junior Katie Rink then helped add to the Aggies’ total with a second-place finish in the 1000 free. With an altitude adjusted time of 10:03.03, Rink surpassed the school record previously set by teammate Naomi Slee two seasons ago.
• NM State then secured the top two spots in the ensuing event as Dijana Mazumdar and Naomi Slee went 1-2 with times of 1:50.64 and 1:51.28, respectively. The pair of Aggies brought the best out of each other as both times were quicker than the previous pool record entering the day.
• Emily Dobbins followed this strong swim with a first-place finish in the 100 back as she out-touched NAU’s Gracie Munk to finish with a time of 55.95 – just two one-hundredths of a second faster than her Lumberjack opponent. The Australian would also show her prowess in the 200 back as she finished with a time of 2:01.97 to outpace the field for her second win of the meet.
• For the second time of the meet, two NM State swimmers reached the wall first as Faye McDonagh and Kodi Wiman finished first and second, respectively, in the 100 breast.
• Freshman Dijana Mazumdar would later tally her second individual win as she secured the top spot in the 50 free with a speedy time of 23.50. Mazumdar would continue her strong day as she also managed a first-place finish in the 100 free in the next swim event – posting a time of 50.93.
• The Aggies would then secure a sweep of the podium in the final individual event of the meet as Estel Galo raced to a win in the 400 IM as she posted a time of 4:32.11 while Faye McDonagh finished second (4:33.72) and Riley Crespo finished third (4:35.04).
• NM State also turned in a pool record in the final event of the day as the relay team of Emily Dobbins, Dijana Mazumdar, Naomi Slee and Katie Rink combined to post a time of 3:23.81 to finished nearly three seconds ahead of the next closest finisher in the 400 free relay.

QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
“This is a great opportunity for our group attending and we’ll face some very strong competition. This will help us prepare for the WAC championship in February which is also in Houston and with the same format. With half the season behind us, time is flying by and we’re in a great position to have some fast performances.”

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