by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
In what will be head coach Bill Spahn's final Mountain West Conference championship meet, his UNM swimming and diving team got off to a great start Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
The Lobos stood in second place overall after one day.
"It's a great start," Spahn said. "But there's still three more days, a lot more swimming to do."
On Thursday, they sunk to fifth place.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Spahn has always taken the one-day-at-a-time approach, he said, and it led to much success in his 24 years at UNM.
He has been named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, had 54 swimmers become WAC champions, and 12 of his team members were named All-Americans.
"It's just a reflection of what the team has done," Spahn said. "I'm just glad to see the girls do well."
As well as having many of his athletes perform well in the pool, Spahn has a history of his teams excelling in academics. In the 2003 season alone, 10 swimmers and divers were named to the all-MWC academic team.
Spahn said he knows how important it is to keep school a high priority, and the team will continue to do that.
"I think they're always going to do well - always going to feel that academics are important," he said. "That's just how our girls think."
Although this was assistant coach Tracy Ljone's first year at UNM, she said she took a lot from working with a person like Spahn.
"He has a fantastic legacy, led many girls to conference titles and All-American teams," she said.
Ljone said the experience of working with Spahn helped improve her coaching.
"I learned a lot about not only coaching but also swimming and how to work with the athletes and relate to them," she said.
Spahn said he couldn't name a favorite moment as head coach at UNM.
After a little more thought, he said it was the day he was hired.
"I've had a good time here, enjoyed my years and had a lot of good teams and very good swimmers - just a lot of great years," he said.
With one day of competition remaining, the Lobos sit in fifth place with 175 points. Brigham Young leads all teams with 291 points.
The Lobos set two school records in the two relay events on Wednesday. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team of juniors Robyn Miller, Kelsey Leckovic, freshman Andrea Zarins and sophomore Jen Hale grabbed third place with a time of 7:29.42, shaving more than three seconds off the old UNM record of 7:33.61.
The other swimming event on Wednesday, the 200-yard medley relay, featured freshmen Tori Clarridge and Rachel Evans, sophomore Aimee Dunavant and sophomore Jenna Syverson. The team finished sixth overall and beat another school record. This year the team finished in 1:46.23, faster than the old record of 1:47.17.
Senior Becca Barras won the 1-meter event for the third straight year on Wednesday. She came in second in the 3-meter board on Thursday, coming up short of Utah's Kelsey Patterson's 524.80 on her final dive with a 499.55. It was only her second loss all season to an MWC opponent.
Miller picked up a bronze in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:56.33.
