Arizona edged out Utah in a pair of dual meets today in Salt Lake City.
Arizona Press Release
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Arizona men’s and women’s swimming and diving defeated Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City. The women won decisively (171-119), exhibitioning in the last four events. The men’s victory was decided in the last event of the day, the 200 free relay. The Cats won the relay and the meet, 156-142. The women are now 3-0 on the season (1-0, Pac-12) while the men are 2-0 (1-0, Pac-12).
For the women, freshman Hannah Cox continued her momentum from the season opener, winning each of her three events. Cox again outswam the competition to finish first in the 200 free (1:50.55) and 500 free (4:56.15). The freshman also won the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.02.
Sophomore Annie Ochitwa remains a key contributor for the women. Ochitwa took first in the 100 fly for the second time this season, winning by more than two and a half seconds (54.36). She also finished first in the 100 back with a time of 54.23, beating teammate Taylor Garcia by four-tenths of a second.
Ochitwa was a member of both winning relay teams. The swimmer helped open up the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay with Kennedy Lohman, Garcia and Katrina Konopka (1:42.37). The team of Ashley Sutherland, Ochitwa, Garcia and Sarah Shimomura later out-touched the competition to win the 200 free relay with 1:33.08, edging out Arizona’s second relay team by five-hundredths of a second.
Senior diver Karolyn Loftus had strong performances in both the 1-meter and 3-meter to take second with scores of 250.50 and 246.45, respectively.
Other victors in the meet include freshman Lohman (100 breast – 1:04.55), sophomore Mik Ranslem (200 fly – 2:03.98) and junior Cameron McHugh (200 back – 1:59.72).
On the men’s side, a plethora of Cats contributed points to the victory. Senior Tyler Fowler gave the men a win in the first individual event of the day (1,000 free), touching in 9:33.59, six seconds ahead of Utah’s runner-up. Fowler later took third in the 500 free with a time of 4:39.45.
Sophomore Chatham Dobbs earned a first-place finish in the 100 fly (49.73) and took second in the 100 back (49.93). Dobbs also swam for the winning 200 free relay team that gave the Cats a meet victory. Utah needed to finish 1-2 or 1-3 in the event to win the meet. However, Arizona’s J.P. Beach, Renny Richmond, Chad Idensohn and Dobbs hit the wall first with a time of 1:22.92.
Additional individual winners include sophomore Parks Jones (200 free – 1:41.51), freshman Brendan Meyer (200 fly – 1:50.34) and freshman Thomas Anderson (200 back – 1:51.01).
Arizona swept the podium in six events for women (200 free, 100 back, 50 fee, 200 back, 500 free and 200 IM). In both the 100 back and 500 free, the Cats went 1-2-3-4. The women also had at least two swimmers in the top three in 11 individual events in addition to the two relays.
The men commanded the 50 free, going 1-2-3, and had multiple swimmers in the top three in eight individual events. They also went 1-2 and 1-3 in the relays.
Utah Press Release
SALT LAKE CITY- The University of Utah swimming and diving team suffered losses to Arizona today in Pac-12 action. The men’s team was defeated 156-142 and the women fell 171-119.
“It was not the best exhibition of Pac-12 swimming we have seen from either team,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “We had some slow, ugly swimming out there, very tired swimming. You can just tell both teams are beat up from training and the early morning start didn't help. However, we really got into that meet at the end.
We put up some times that were pretty terrible across the board but the effort was great. Some people were able to clean up some stuff technically from yesterday, even if they were turning in slower times. I will take some positives out of this. We have to continue to pay the grind in training and get ready for bigger things next month.”
Jack Burton had an impressive showing for the Utes, winning the 100 breast, touching in at 57.02, as well as the 200 breast (2:05.54). He is currently undefeated this season in both events.
In the 100 back, Paul Unger was first with a time of 49.67. Freshman Liam O’Haimhirgin also took first in the 100 free (46.43).
In a close 200 IM race, it was Nolan Rogers who came out on top. He finished with a time of 1:53.09, just .02 seconds in front of Arizona’s Nick Thorne.
Another win for the Utes was added by Rahiti De Vos in the 500 free (4:34.74). He also took second in the 200 free (1:41.74).
Peter Kotson (1,000 free, 9:39.25) and Ethan Dillard (200 back, 1:52.01) picked up second-place finishes as well.
In diving, the Utes claimed the top three spots in both the one-meter and the three-meter. On the one-meter board, it was Josiah Purss in first with a score of 363.53 followed by Connor Cain (282.00) and Daniel Theriault (238.43).
On the three-meter, it was the same order. Purss was first (333.83) with Cain (266.93) and Theriault (223.58) following.
On the women’s side, Stina Colleou took first in the 200 breast touching in at 2:19.15. Darby Wayner also took first in the 200 IM (2:09.11). She was followed by Brianna Francis (2:10.30) and Jordan Anderson (2:12.93).
Colleou and Wayner also took second in their respective events. Colleou was second in the 100 breast (1:04.89) and Wayner was runner-up in the 100 fly (56.93).
Another win was recorded in the 200 free relay. The team of Dorien Butter, Kristine Pataray, Gillian St.John and Jenna Marsh touched in with a time of 1:35.08. Claire Jackson, Sarah Lott, Hailey Pabst and Mallori Allen were second (1:38.27).
On the boards, Amanda Casilla was first in both the one-meter and three-meter. She came away with a score of 291.45 in the one-meter, while on the three-meter, she tallied a score of 267.75. Lauren Hall was second (220.58) and Madison Cock third. (201.23) in the three-meter event.
Up next, the Utes will travel to Las Vegas on Nov. 4 where they will take on the UNLV Rebels.
