ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In a relays dual at the University of New Mexico, the Northern Colorado swimming & diving team fell short of the host, losing 244-180 in the first of three meets on the week.

"The girls swam really well," said Head Coach Kelly McClanahan. "Especially after sitting on the bus today for eight hours in the snow. It is really tough to be on a bus all day and swim the same night, so I'm proud of the way they battled, the way they stepped up and performed against a tough Mountain West opponent."

Kelly Schmeckpepper-Cook posted the third-best one-meter diving score in school history at 271.43 to finish fourth overall, while she finished just outside the school's top five list in the three-meter with her fifth-place tally of 263.48. Her total in the one-meter is an NCAA Zone E qualifying standard.

Tori Gutt led off the 3x100 breaststroke relay with a split of 1:08.16 which is the eighth best time at Northern Colorado.

Both 200 freestyle relay teams posted top-10 all-time clockings in Northern Colorado history. The quartet of Sammy Leonard, Hattie Oatts, Dawn Adams and JJ Smith swam a 1:41.79 for eighth on the all-time charts, while Cheryl Bready, Melissa Lucero, Allison Scott and Alana Dauman posted the ninth-best time with their swim of 1:48.06.

The trio of freshmen Tatum Boehnke and Hannah Halstrom and sophomore Amanda Donegan won the 1500 yard freestyle relay in a time of 16:21.70, while the quartet of Alisha Dauman, Brianna Lanute, Scott and Gutt timed a 4:23.90 to place first in the 400 yard IM Relay.

Adams, Oatts, Leonard and Smith combined to swim a 47.65 in the 100 yard freestyle relay.

"We had some good quality swims today," continued McClanahan. "We raised the bar on some top swims and the team needs to rest tonight because we have two more tough meets the next two days."

The Bears return to the poll tomorrow in Las Cruces at 5:00 p.m. in a dual with New Mexico State. On Saturday they conclude the weekend with a double dual against the Aggies and Northern Arizona at 11:00 a.m.