UNLV vs. Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, October 31. THE Utah women’s swimming and diving team defeated the UNLV Rebels Saturday at Ute Natatorium. The women’s meet went down to the final event with Utah women pulling ahead for a 149.5-148.5 victory. The Utah men’s team fell to the Rebels, 170-124.

“Today we had some people step up and do unbelievable things for us,” said head coach Greg Winslow. “We saw some resiliency out of our women’s team, which is what we want and need to be successful this season.”

The women’s meet went back and forth with Utah winning nine of the 16 events. The top Utah swimmer of the meet was sophomore Hannah Caron (Raleigh, N.C.), who finished first in the 200 fly (2:05.35), the 100 fly (57.45), the 200 IM (2:05.41) as well as being on the first-place 200 medley relay team (1:47.81). Also on the 200 medley relay team was senior Beth Gunderson (Portland, Ore.) and juniors Maiya Otsuka (Littleton, Colo.) and Natalie Edge (South Jordan, Utah). Edge was also part of the first-place 400 free relay team (3:29.21) along with senior Annie VanLeeuwen (West Valley City, Utah), junior Kristina Evans (Salt Lake City, Utah) and freshman Chardonnay Biter-Mundt (Napa, Calif.).

Edge and Otsuka also finished first in individual events. Edge had the top time in the 50 free (24.20) and also finished second in the 200 free (1:55.50). Otsuka was the top finisher in the 100 breast (1:06.97) and was .07 seconds behind first in the 200 breast (2:22.52). Otsuka also tied for third in the 200 IM (2:09.17).

Freshman Kayla Buck also finished first in the 1000 free (10:41.82), almost five seconds ahead of second place, and was second in the 500 free (5:14.72).

The Utah women’s diving squad swept the top two spots in both events for the second time this season. Junior Kwan Ling Yu (Yuen Long, Hong Kong) was first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 268.50 and second in the 1-meter dive at 260.70. Freshman Ellis Walters (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 285.23 and second in the 3-meter dive with 268.50.

Other notable performances for the Utah women: Gunderson finished third in the 100 back (1:01.27), VanLeeuwen finished third in the 100 breast (1:07.80), freshman Sarah Boylen (South Bend, Ind.) finished second in the 200 fly (2:10.50), Evans finished third in the 100 free (54.08) and freshman Danielle Caldwell (Phoenix, Ariz.) finished third in the 200 back (2:07.90).

The Utah men fell behind early and were never able to recover, despite impressive performances throughout the meet. The Utes swept the top three spots in the 200 IM, with senior John Baque finishing in first (1:58.93), senior David Pursley in second (2:00.20) and freshman Bryan Michaels in third (2:01.95). Sophomore Major Robinson (Missoula, Mont.) came from behind to take first in the 200 back (1:52.30) and also finished second in the 100 back (52.92).

Other notable performances for the Utah men: Michaels finished third in both the 1000 free (9:47.61) and the 500 free (4:42.67), sophomore Eric Murray finished second in the 200 free (1:44.25) with freshman Ryan Hansen (Pewaukee, Wis.) behind him in third (1:47.45), Baque finished second (58.81) and freshman Karson Applin (Houston, Texas) finished third (59.02) in the 100 breast, sophomore Eric Bonicelli (Overland Park, Kan.) took third in the 200 fly (1:57.60) and Baque finished second (2:08.95) and junior Garrett Peterson took third (2:18.48) in the 200 breast.

“UNLV is a well-coached team with a lot of experience and we are still a young team,” said Winslow. “A lot of our younger athletes have never done back to back meets like we had this weekend, let alone compete against such high-caliber opponents. That’s why we set up our schedule like this, to teach them and help make them tougher by the end of the season.”

The Utah women will host three opponents when New Mexico, Boise State and Seattle University travel to Ute Natatorium on Saturday, Nov. 7. The men will also host Seattle University. The meet will begin at 1 p.m.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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