At Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, the Utes impressed, but ultimately split the meet with the Arizona Sun Devils. The Ute men bested their competition 158-122, while the women fell to their No. 22 opponent 154-121. The Utah men improve their duel meet record to 4-1 for the season, as the women fall to 4-5.
“I’m really happy with the way we did,” said Utah head coach Greg Winslow. “It’s a great way to kick off the end of finals and the start of a great training week here. Looking forward to getting some great work done while we’re here and hopefully some sun.”
The underclassmen continue to lead the Utah men as Nick Soedel swept the sprint freestyle events once again, touching in 1:41.08 in the 200 free, 20.43 in the 50 free and 44.80 in the 100 free.
Bjorn Gunnarsson and Jonas Holmstrom were also large contributors in the sprint freestyle. Gunnersson took home second in the 100 free (46.67) and the 50 free (21.01), while Holmstrom was runner-up in the 200 free (1:42.10) and third in the 100 free (47.08).
Bence Kira’ly also snagged three individual wins, topping the 400 IM (3:57.84), the 100 free (9:23.77) and the 500 free (4:34.57).
Other notable Ute performances include Alexandre Fernandes’ second-place finish in the 100 back (53.48), David Fraser’s second place in the 200 fly (1:51.82), and Ian Walker’s second place in the 200 back (1:58.42).
The Utah men capped off the meet with a win in the 400 free relay (3:04.08) due to the collaboration of Holmstrom, Gunnarsson, Winter Heaven and Soedel.
Kersten Merry and Giuliana Gigliotti both brought in wins for the Ute women. Merry took first in the 1-meter (301.05), while Gigliotti was the winner of the 100 free (51.75).
Samantha Zuch pulled in second place in the 500 free (4:57.47) and the 1000 free (10:08.96), while Nicole Ligeza did the same in the 200 breast (2:20.18) and the 100 breast (1:04.83).
The Utes finished back-to-back in the 200 fly as Petra Soininen, Paolina Carnevale and Syndey Bull took third, fourth and fifth (2:04.83, 2:08.92, 2:09.35).
Gigliotti took in second in the 50 free (24.15), as Traycie Swartz took third in the 100 back (57.65).
The Ute women ended the day on a high note as Gigliotti, Soininen, Zuch and Swartz touched in first place in the 400 free relay (50.47).
Next time out, the Utes will face Denver on Jan. 18th at Ute Natatorium. The meet will kick off at 6 p.m.
