by Andre Van Der Mewre
Daily Lobo
Two losses in the opening dual meet of the season didn't mean everything went wrong Friday and Saturday for the UNM swimming and diving team.
The first UNM home meet ended up in a loss to Air Force, but the meet wasn't without its bright spots for the Lobos. UNM freshman Summer Abt and sophomore Carrie Quinn proved to be the silver lining in the loss against Air Force by backstroking and diving their way to a combined four first-place finishes for UNM at Seidler Natatorium.
Abt won the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:13.77, and added another victory in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:01.07.
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Quinn took first in the 3-meter board with a score of 247.80. Quinn's 271.35 on the 1-meter board was good enough for first place as well.
Head coach Tracy Ljone started off her season as the one in charge of the Lobos' swimming and diving team after taking over for Bill Spahn, who had a 24-year career at UNM.
Ljone said it was a pretty good showing from her team despite the losses.
"It was a solid meet all around, with some great performances and some not so good performances," she said.
Her expectations for the team this year are high, considering it is further ahead of schedule in terms of its training than Ljone anticipated, she said.
"We are doing about the same times as we were doing last year in January," she said.
The Lobos peaked last year in January in preparation for the Mountain West Conference Championships at the end of February.
After the Lobos' first loss to Air Force, the team was back at it the next day against the University of Wyoming. Although Wyoming came away with the victory in the Lobos' second meet in two days, seniors Robyn Miller and Kelsey Leckovic still had good days in the pool.
Miller finished first in the 400-meter individual medley and second in the 500-yard freestyle with times of 4:36.63 and 5:15.71, respectively.
Leckovic snatched up a first-place victory with a time of 54:30 in the 100-meter freestyle event, and etched out a third-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle.
These individual events weren't the only damage done to the Wyoming team by the seniors. Both Miller and Leckovic played key roles in the 200-meter freestyle relay team's first-place finish alongside Abt and sophomore Tori Clarridge.
Ljone said after just two meets, the relay teams have improved from last season.
"Our freestyle relay teams are fantastic, and our medley relay teams are doing a lot better than last year," she said.
The medley relay team, juniors Katy Vandam, Jenna Syverson, Jen Hale and sophomore Rachel Evans, missed a victory against Wyoming, coming in third with a time of 1:51.97. The team's time was less than half a second behind second place and just a little more than a second behind first place.
Despite the relay teams' performances, the team still has room to improve in some areas, Ljone said.
"We have to work a little more on our long-distance," she said.
