Boise State Swimming Comes Through in Clutch to Beat Utah

Photo Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho, October 9. Boise State had a strong outing against the Utah Utes, claiming a win against the Pacific 12 Conference foe. Boise State came through in the clutch to win 156.5-143.5 at the Boise West YMCA.

Boise State Press Release

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State head coach Kristin Hill had a pretty simple reason for why her Broncos were able to put up late wins in the final two events of Wednesday night’s season opener against Utah: experience.

Four of the six Bronco swimmers that competed at the NCAA Championships last spring played vital roles in wins in the 200 IM and 200 free relay that sealed a 156.5-143.5 win over Utah at the Boise West YMCA. Junior Sam Wicks, making a rare appearance in the 200 IM, cruised to a three-second win over the field with a final time of 2:04.69, giving Boise State nine crucial points. In the final event of the night, the 200 free relay, the team of freshman Emma Chard and 2014 NCAA participants Jessica Bottelberghe, Katelyn Martin and Brittany Aoyama pulled away just enough in the final two legs to touch in 1:33.49, earning 11 points by just 61-hundredths of a second before Utah.

“The 200 free relay team did phenomenal. From start to finish they had a lot of speed, which is a bit unexpected for this time of year, so for them to find that speed was good to see,” Hill said. “With the exception of Emma Chard, these were swimmers that all competed at the NCAA Championships, so that experience helps when a meet comes down to a relay like that.”

It was another relay that got Boise State off to a flying start Wednesday night, as the 200 medley relay foursome of Wicks, Aoyama, Chard and Heather Harper touched first in 1:42.46, the eighth-fastest time in school history. Chard and Wicks would add individual wins to their accounts in the 200 free and 100 back, respectively, soon after to give the Broncos a 57-36 advantage through five events.

In the 200 free, Chard led a Bronco sweep of the first three positions, worth 16 points, with a time of 1:49.99 and was followed by sophomore Felicity Cann (1:50.28) and fellow rookie Monica Bottelberghe (1:53.69). Cann would also finish second in the 500 free with a time of 4:59.99.

“Emma Chard in the 200 free in the first dual of the season was outstanding, and Felicity in the 500 free is faster than where she was at the beginning of last season,” Hill added. “Sam Wicks in the 200 IM, she doesn’t typically swim that race but we needed her to tonight and she performed really well.”

Wicks collected a third individual win on the night with a 51.42 in the 100 free, while Aoyama captured the 50 free (23.24) and the 100 fly (54.94). The wins energized a strong pro-Bronco crowd of over 400 fans that filled the Y with chants of “Boise! State!”

“Utah’s a great team and to come away with a win in a head-to-head competition against a team with their strength is very exciting,” Hill noted. Our relays were outstanding and this was definitely the highest-level opening-season meet that we’ve ever had. And I have to thank our great fans for coming out in such numbers to support us tonight, it made for a great atmosphere.”

The Broncos finish the campaign’s opening week Saturday in Moscow, taking on in-state rival Idaho at 1 p.m. MT.

Utah Press Release

BOISE, Idaho – Utah’s Stina Colleou and Maddie Meisel collected two wins each, while Amanda Casillas and Jasmine Matkovic both took top honors in diving events, but the Boise State Broncos (1-0) edged the Utes (2-2) in women’s swimming and diving action by a score of 156.5-143.5 Wednesday evening at the Boise West YMCA.

Along with the four wins between Colleou, Casillas and Matkovic, Utah picked up four more individual wins on the day and nearly pulled away with the victory in the night’s final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay.

The Broncos led by a margin of 145.5-137.5 heading into the final race and then managed to seal the victory after taking first-place in the relay with a time of 1:33.49, while Utah’s team of Dorien Butter, Maddie Jamora, Rhianna Williams and Giuliana Gigliotti touched in second with a time of 1:34.11.

Boise State would tally 11 points in the event and Utah came away with six total points, which helped give the Broncos the 13-point win.

“I am proud of how hard we fought today,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “We went down early in the meet, really fought back over the back-half and nearly pulled it out on the last relay. Boise swam exceptionally well and we really struggled adapting to a very tough facility to get accustomed to.”

Colleou took first-place in both the breaststroke events, touching first in the 100 with a time of 1:04.54 and then taking top honors in the 200 event with a time of 2:17.65. Brianna Francis would finish behind her in the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.41.

Casillas helped Utah pick up its first win of the day as she took first-place in the three-meter event with a score of 270.83. Lauren Hall collected a pair of points for the Utes as she finished in fourth-place with a score of 264.98.

Matkovic would later give Utah a sweep in diving events after taking the top spot in the one-meter with a score of 264.07. It was Matkovic’s first individual win since taking first overall in both one-meter and three-meter events last season against Washington State.

“I’m proud of the diver’s performances today,” said Utah head diving coach Richard Marschner. We dived well considering the conditions. Jasmine had a great one-meter event after a tough go of things on three-meter and Amanda has been consistently good. Lauren also set personal bests on both boards.”

Competing in her first 1000 freestyle event of the season, Meisel managed to take first-place with a time of 10:18.99 and she then took first in the 500 freestyle as well, touching first with a season-best time of 4:58.43.

Petra Soininen picked up an individual title in the 200 butterfly after touching in 2:04.39 and she finished second overall in the 200 butterfly with a time of 55.83.

Amanda Barrett recorded Utah’s final first-place finish with a victory in the 200 backstroke as she touched in a time of 2:02.34. Utah would actually finish the event in order as Megan Kawaguchi (2:04.63) and Hailey Pabst (2:06.43) followed Barrett for a one-two-three finish.

The Utes are now 2-2 overall on the season and will take a three-week break before returning to action when the team travels to Las Vegas, Nev., to take on UNLV and Arizona. The event will be held at Buchanan Natatorium on Nov. 1.

Results: Utah vs. Boise State

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