Utah Sweeps Air Force

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, January 27. THE University of Utah men's and women's swimming and diving knocked off Air Force on Saturday afternoon. The Ute men pulled a big upset, beating a Falcon team that was on the cusp of the national top 25, by a score of 154-146. The women continued to roll through the Mountain West Conference unbeaten with a 153-117 win, setting up a battle of conference unbeatens next weekend when BYU comes to town.

The men used the momentum of the home crowd to shock the visiting Falcons. Seamus Alger came from behind in the 400 IM to put Utah in a position to pull out the victory. Alger trailed for most of the race but finished strong in a time of 4:11.09 to win by .09 seconds over Air Force's Justin Lapin.

"Seamus showed a lot today," comments Head Coach Michael Litzinger. "It is great to see that we have a freshman like him that is never going to give up and keep fighting. His win helped us to be able to get this victory."

Utah got an all-around big day from everyone and finished first and second in three events and also took both diving boards with Damien Brown and Andrew Jones finishing first and second, respectively in both one-meter and three-meter diving. In the 100 free George Evans and David Maasberg finished 1-2, with a 47.20 and 47.21 time respectively. Maasberg then won the 50 free with a time of 21.57, while Matt Bailey placed second.

"It's great that we were able to step up and compete with a team like this," adds Litzinger. "We snuck out a couple in the early going and were able to ride the momentum and take over."

The women continued their dominance of conference competition with their 22nd consecutive win in the MWC. Utah won all but two events as it rolled to 7-0 in the conference. Adrienne Coburn won the 200-medley relay (1:48.33), 200 free (1:53.69), 200 back (2:07.68) and 400 IM (4:30.26). Jennifer Fredsall added victories in the 50 free (24.93), where she tied with teammate Annie VanLeeuwen, 100 free (54.41) and was also on the winning 200-medley relay team.

"It was business as usual for the girls," states Litzinger. "Air Force has some good athletes and today gave us a chance to get our girls prepared for Friday against BYU. Both the Cougars and us will be undefeated heading into Friday and it should be an exciting college meet."

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use