Celebrating senior day for the women, the University of Utah swimming and diving came out on top against rival BYU. The men finished with a score of 205-93 while the women finished 170-126.
The men’s team remains undefeated and improved to 9-0 and 2-0 in Pac-12 meets, while the women’s team is 5-6 overall and 1-4 against Pac-12 competition.
“It went better than I ever imagined it was going to,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “It means a lot to our swimmers and divers to defend out home pool. They really stepped up. We are still in heavy training; we are weeks out from Pac-12 still. For us to come in and put up this display like we did today, I’m really proud of the team.”
"I want to highlight our five senior women that this was their last home meet. They had a phenomenal day. I’m really proud of them and all of their accomplishments. I am glad we were able to celebrate them today.”
The Utah women opened up the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay as the team of Megan Kawaguchi, Stina Colleou, Melissa Paahk and Maddie Jamora touched in first with a time of 1:44.31. Following in second was team of Shayla Archer, Brianna Francis, Jenna Marsh and Petra Soininen (1:46.67).
Kawaguchi would later take first in the 100 back with a time of 57.15 while Colleou took first in the 100 breast (1:05.19). Colleou also took first in the 200 breast (2:21.45).
Kat Wickham took first in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:34.96 while Maudee Miner took third in the event (11:00.38).
In the 200 free, Dorien Butter touched in first with a time of 1:53.67 followed by Hailey Pabst in second (1:54.65).
Soininen claimed the top spot in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.90 with Meisel taking second (2:07.51). Meisel would later take the top spot in the 500 free with a time of 5:06.02.
The Utes claimed the top three spot in the 50 free. Jamora took first with a time of 23.88 with Giuliana Gigliotti following (24.10) and Butter in third (24.34).
Gigliotti took first in the 100 free with a time of 52.48 followed by Butter (53.29) and Jamora (53.65).
In the 200 back, Amanda Barrett touched in first with a time of 2:02.17 while Kawaguchi took second in the event (2:06.00).
Paahk also took first in the 100 fly with a time of 56.13 with Soininen in second (57.27).
Taking sixth in the 200 IM was Paolina Carnevale with a time of 2:15.41 with Ashlyn Karosas in seventh (2:16.66).
For the men, in the 200 medley relay, it was team of Kristian Kron, Jack Burton, Alex Fernandes and Nick Soedel who took top honors with a time of 1:29.48.
It went one-two-three finish in the 1,000 free when Peter Kotson took tops honors with a time of 9:33.14 and was followed by Brandon Shreeve (9:36.83) and Matthew Bolinger (9:42.03).
In another one-two-three finish, Soedel took first place in the 50 free (19.76) and he was followed by Fernandes (20.87) and Sean Bloore (21.44). Soedel also took first in the 100 free with a time of 44.01.
Bence Kiraly took home three wins for the day; in the 200 free (1:39.03), 200 fly (1:50.37) and the 500 free (4:37.35).
Taking second in the 100 back was Brandon Deckard took second in the 100 back (49.54) as well as in the 200 back (1:50.01). Also taking second for the Utes was Burton in the 100 breast with a time of 57.17 and in the 200 breast (2:05.95).
Fernandes touched in first in the 100 fly with a time of 48.86 while Fraser took second in the event (50.32).
Nolan Rogers took third in the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.96 with Kron following (1:54.88).
On the diving side, Amanda Casillas took first in the three-meter event with a score of 308.40. Lauren Hall would take third (276.00) with Jasmine Matkovic in fourth (274.95).
It was a one-two-three finish in the one-meter event. Casillas took top honors with a score of 298.20 followed by Matkovic (277.13) and Hall (257.33).
Jacob Crayne took first in both the one-meter event (370.80) and the three-meter event (407.10).
“We dived out of our mind today,” said Utah head diving coach Richard Marschner. “For the third or fourth straight meet, everyone obtained a new personal best on at least one board. Jake was only five points off the school record on three-meter and is diving as well as I have ever seen him dive. Jasmine set a new personal best on the one-meter as well. For her and Lauren to come back so strong only a week after having to scratch at Air Force is a testament to their toughness. Amanda keeps being a rock and is literally getting noticeably better by the day. The next month plus is going to be fun.”
The women’s squad will take on Washington State next Friday, Feb.13 then take on Idaho the next day, Feb.14.
The men will take a break and will return to competition Feb.20-21 where they will host USC.
BYU men’s (170-126) and women’s (205-93) swim and dive lost in the Deseret First Duel against the University of Utah Saturday afternoon at the Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.
“Utah has such a good all-around program with its men and women,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “I'm proud of how our swimmers battled and I think this was a good step towards getting ready for the conference championships.”
Orem junior Ali Tippetts finished second in the women’s 3-meter diving, earning a score of 279.53. BYU sophomore Kevin Dreesen also picked up a second-place finish in the men’s 1-meter, with a 326.70, he was followed by senior Nicholas Suder who finished third with a 322.43 score.
In the men’s 3-meter, Cougar freshman Nathan Gonzales placed second with a score of 319.80 and Dreesen finished third, earning a 315.30.
The BYU women swept the top three spots in the 200-yard individual medley. Nibley sophomore Ashlee Spindler finished first with a time of 2:10.54, followed by fellow sophomores Hanna Skaggs (2:12.42) and Kerra Bispo (2:12.96). The Cougar men took the two top spots in the same event with junior Jake Taylor finishing first in 1:52.83 and junior Stephen Richards coming in behind him at 1:53.83.
South Jordan senior Ciera Marsh Keller, senior Andrea Grant Richards, sophomore Lauren Shaw Taylor and freshman Alora Foliaki combined to win the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:34.75.
Freshmen Evan Berger and Levi Jensen along with senior Hayden Palmer and American Fork junior McKay King teamed up to pick up a win for the BYU men in the 400-yard free relay, recording a time of 3:08.03.
Singapore sophomore Rainer Ng, American Fork senior Michael King, McKay King and Taylor finished second in the men’s 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:31.32.
In the women’s 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Vanessa Moffatt finished second in 10:35.67. Moffatt also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle with at time of 5:10.75
Lauren Shaw Taylor earned a third-place finish in the women’s 200-yard freestyle touching the wall in 1:54.71. For the men, Jake Taylor finished second in the same event; he recorded a time of 1:40.16.
Ng won the men’s 100-yard backstroke in 49.54 and his teammate McKay King finished third with a time of 52.20. Keller recorded a third-place finish in the women’s 100-yard, finishing in 57.83.
Stephen Richards finished first (56.75) and Michael King came in third (58.10) in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke.
McKay King came up just short and finished second in the men’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.88.
Jake Taylor won the 200-yard backstroke for the men with a time of 1:48.32.
Stephen Richards won his second event against Utah when he finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke touching the wall in 2:04.04.
Up next for the Cougars is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation swimming and diving conference championships. The swimmers will be in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center and the divers will head to Monterey Park, California, Feb. 18-21.
