“We love our seniors,” underclassmen of the swimming and diving team yelled at the senior meet on Nov. 6 against Washington State. The seven seniors received recognition for their athletic achievements in between events at the meet. Despite NAU’s celebratory spirit, WSU took the meet with a two-point lead at 146.5 points.

Before the start of the second half of events, NAU had a seven-point lead over WSU.

Washington State took the top three spots in the 100-meter freestyle event, edging out senior Meredith Egloria in 0.12 seconds.

“There’s always places where you feel like you could’ve done better,” said sophomore Kristin Jones. “Everybody really did the best that they could, and that’s all we can ask for.”

Egloria, along with seniors T.J. Williams and Rachel Foe and freshman Fiona Connell, started out well in the 200-meter medley relay with a final time of 1:57.53. Jones defeated WSU in the 800-meter freestyle by 2.7 seconds, with a time of 9:26.13. Connell dominated over the Cougars in the 100-meter backstroke in 1:03.30 and her 200 backstroke in 2:19.38, breaking two Wall Aquatic Center records.

“We knew it was going to be a close meet, and everybody performed and stepped up,” Foe said. “There were a lot of good performances today from everyone.”

Foe and WSU senior Michaela Ahlin tied for first place in the 100-meter butterfly with a record-breaking time of 1:03.52.
Jones, Connell and Foe said they were not disappointed with the results of the meet, which was the second narrow loss for the season.

“I’m not disappointed at all,” Foe said. “We swam well, and we were cohesive as a team. I just think it will make us stronger and give us the extra oomph to win the next race.”

The Lumberjacks will be traveling to Boise, Idaho to compete against the Boise State Broncos on Nov. 13.

“Boise State’s going to be another very tough challenge,” Johns said. “They’re another tough match up for us. We just have to keep battling and go for the win.”