by Audra Meiklejohn
Daily Lobo
The UNM swim team welcomes New Mexico State University to the Seidler Natatorium in the Lobos' final home meet of the season Saturday.
UNM is currently ranked fourth in the Mountain West Conference (4-3), closely following Utah, Colorado State and UNLV. The Lobos could surpass the Utes and pull into third place with a win this weekend, if Utah loses both Friday and Saturday.
Although the Lobos are coming off a loss to the Utes last weekend, they have good reason to look to Saturday's meet with confidence. UNM defeated the Air Force Academy by a large margin on Jan. 11. The Falcons then turned around and beat the Aggies 71-68 last Saturday.
The last time the Lobos and the Aggies met in dual-competition was last season, in Las Cruces. UNM won the meet, but head coach Bill Spahn said that NMSU put up a good fight.
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"It was a very good meet," Spahn said. "It looked like we won easily, but it was actually a close meet. There were a bunch of very close races." He was quick to note that the Lobos cannot afford to overlook this meet.
"They always swim well against us and they have some really good swimmers," Spahn said. "You always want to beat your in-state rival, especially since this is our last meet and their last meet before conference. We need to go into conference feeling good."
The Lobos will have to thrive in diving and individual races in order to beat NMSU.
"Right now their relay times are faster than our relay times," Spahn said. "But we'll cancel that out with our diving. It's going to come down to all the individual events. I think we should be able to win more of the individual events than they'll win. I think we have a little bit better depth."
Spahn and the assistant coach, Lindsie Micko, will look to Myra Will, the lone senior on the UNM roster, to lead the team this weekend. Will has proven to be one of the best sprinters in the conference. "If there's one person you can focus on, it would probably be Myra," Spahn said. "She's one of our best swimmers and she's had a fantastic year. She wants to do well, and everyone wants to see her do well in her last home meet."
Also leading the Lobos are freshman freestyle expert Robyn Miller and sophomore diver, Becca Barras. Miller holds top season times for UNM in several competitions including the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke and 200-meter individual medley. Miller broke a school record in the 400 IM at the Indiana Invite in Nov.
"Robyn is probably our best all-around swimmer," Spahn said. "She's very versatile."
Senior Crystal Wilson, who earned first place in all four of her events last week at the University of Denver, leads the Aggies. Wilson specializes in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle races, 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter medley. UNM's Will, will take on Wilson, who has already qualified for the NCAA championships with a time of 23.27 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle.
Junior Danielle Adams, from NMSU, is another Aggie expected to give the Lobos tough competition. UNM's Miller will likely take on Adams in two events on Saturday. Both swimmers have consistently placed first and second in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle races.
"Danielle Adams has a good 200 freestyle -- faster than Robyn's done in awhile," Spahn said. "That one will hopefully be another good race." Spahn said that the swimming and diving team is well prepared and excited for Saturday's meet. "We always swim well at home," Micko said. "They're a good group of girls."
The Lobos are set to take on the Aggies Saturday, at 1 p.m., at the Seidler Natatorium in Johnson Gym.
