PUEBLO, Colo. (Oct. 8, 2021) - The Colorado State University Pueblo swim and dive team hosted its first home meet of the season as the University of New Mexico came into town. The Lobos defeated the ThunderWolves 199-92.

The Pack opened up the meet with the three-meter diving competition. Lauren Smart took fourth for CSU Pueblo with a 135.5 score.

Next began the swim portion of the afternoon. The 200-medley relay featured two Pack teams taking third and fourth, respectively. The team of Nalani Wess, Kate Miller, Alyssa Grunloh, and Julia Whitfield barely edged out the second Pack team with a 2:01.33 time. The 2:01.74 time from Kayla Chavez, Kristen Wolf, Bristyn Croswhite, and McKenna Hauber was just edged out as the team clinched fourth place with the combined effort.

Next was the grueling 1,650-yard freestyle race which featured Katie Zimmerman and Kristina Copeland. Zimmerman raced aggressively early in the race. After the never-ending 66 laps, Zimmerman placed third with an 18:39.34 final time followed by Copeland placing fifth in 21:01.61.

Grunloh led the Pack in the 200 freestyle with a fourth-place finish in 2:07.03. Gia Genova was right on her teammate's heels, touching the wall in 2:07.73. Markina Evdokimoff rounded out the event with a 2:19.41 effort.

The 100-yard backstroke featured Hauber placing fourth in 1:05.09, Whitfield in fifth in 1:09.19, and Wess rounding out the efforts in 1:12.66.

Kristen Wolf mustered up a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke after edging out the nearest Lobos swimmer by four-hundredths of a second. Wolf finished in 1:12.29 while Miller finished fifth in 1:13.36 and Croswhite placed sixth in 1:19.73.

Grunloh led the ThunderWolves in the 200 butterfly off a fourth-place, 2:26.72 finish. Alyssa Basaldua placed fifth after touching the wall in 2:29.62 and was followed by Wess' 2:47.97 final time.

Whitfield clinched a silver finish in the 50-yard freestyle sprint off a 27.24 touch. Miller took third in 28.79 while Chavez finished fourth in 29.90 to round out the sprint for the Pack.

Smart once again was the sole Pack athlete to participate in diving as the junior dove for fourth in the one-meter event.

The Pack went back inside the lanes and took on the 100-freestyle next. Hauber took second with the 57.65 final time while Basaldua made her way to the podium off a 58.25 effort.  Zimmerman just missed out on the podium with a 58.29 finish.

The 200-backstroke had Whitfield take a second-place finish off a 2:28.59 performance while Wess and a Chavez placed third and fourth off 2:36.36 and 2:42.76 times, respectively.

In the 200 breaststroke, Wolf nearly captured the Pack's first first-place finish of the season, but was inched out by a narrow second with her final time came in at 2:34.85. Miller clinched a third-place finish with a 2:50.26 wall touch as Shion Ienaga finished in 3:02.12.

Zimmerman landed on the podium with a 5:28.23 final time and a second-place finish in the 500 free. Grunloh was able to clinch a third-place honor off a 5:38.89 performance. Rounding out the event was Genova's 5:39.94 fourth-place effort.

The 100-yard butterfly was the next event for the Pack. Basaldua's 1:03.53 race was good enough for a second-place finish as Croswhite and Evdokimoff rounded out the efforts with third and fourth-place performances at 1:07.85 and 1:11.70, respectively.

In the final individual event of the afternoon, Hauber finished second with a 5:06.65 performance as Melissa Braddock and Wolf placed third and fourth. Braddock's 5:12.48 performance was followed closely by Wolf's 5:13.13 finish.

Finally, the 200-yard freestyle relay featured Basaldua, Genova, Evdokimoff, and Zimmerman finished second off a 1:49.52 combined performance. Ienaga, Copeland, Croswhite, and Braddock closed out the meet with a 1:58.03 finish.

The Pack are back in action Saturday at 11:30 a.m. as they take on Western Colorado and Adams State in a tri-dual meet. The meet will kick-off with the three-meter diving competition.