Photo Courtesy: Tia Patron\/Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, October 1. Utah Swimming and Diving will head to Grand Junction, Colo. to compete in the Intermountain Shootout, Oct. 3-4, hosted by Colorado Mesa. Other teams set to compete in the event include Air Force, BYU and Metro State.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very excited for this weekend\u2019s trip to Grand Junction for the Intermountain Shootout,\u201d said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. \u201cEven though the women had the dual against Stanford this past Friday, this weekend gives us the opportunity to have the entire team compete in the entire spectrum of events over two days. It will give the coaches a great opportunity to evaluate where everyone is at in their training progression and start to make some decisions about future travel squad. We will also get some great racing from talented BYU teams, the Air Force men, and a good Division 2 program in host Colorado Mesa. I am also looking forward to the bus trip as early season bus trips always foster a good team bonding experience.\u201c<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s squad is currently coming off a loss to No.4-ranked Stanford, 174-124. Despite the loss, Utah had five first-place finishes with the freshman class taking a handful of those victories.<\/p>\n
Facing NCAA competition for the first time in their careers, freshmen Kat Wickham, Maddie Meisel and Isabella Kearns all took top honors in their respective events. Wickham posted a time of 10:39.62 to win the 1,000 free, while Meisel took top honors in the 500 free with a time of 5:06.62. Kearns managed to take first-place overall in the 200 fly with a time of 1:27.45.<\/p>\n
Other victories for Utah swimmers included All-American Stina Colleou taking top honors in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.37 and the 200 free relay team, which consisted of Rhianna Williams, Dorien Butter, Meisel and Guiliana Gigliotti, touching first with a time of 1:27.45.<\/p>\n
The Utah men\u2019s team will look to All-American Nick Soedel, juniors Kristian Kron and Bence Kiraly, as well as All-American diver Josiah Purss as they take to the pool for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cNick returns as the Pac-12 champion in the 100 free this season, and Josiah returns on the boards and he was an All-American his first two years here,\u201d said Dykstra. \u201cJosiah just keeps getting better. He is a little beat up right now but as long as we get him healthy, he is going to keep getting better and score big points for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBence returns as the Pac-12 champion in the 1,650 free [and he has been] one of our strongest performers throughout his first two years,\u201d said Dykstra. \u201cWe look for him to keep getting better. Kristian, in the backs and IM\u2019s continues to get faster and he will score points for us. Those four are really big swimmers.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to coach Dykstra, there will also be a number of freshmen that will contribute to not only this this meet, but for the entire season.<\/p>\n
Jack Burton, Ganem Tebet and Keith Schendel will be relied on to help the Utes score points in breaststroke events. Also contributing will be incoming transfer, Quilian Oak, who will compete in many of the freestyle sprinting events.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuillan is actually a junior for us, but he will be a newcomer that we look to,\u201d said Dykstra. \u201cHe and Jack are going to be our top two breaststrokers all year long and they are really going to help solidify what was a weakness for us last year in dual meets, as will Ganem and Keith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other freshmen swimmers that will have a hand in contributing on the men\u2019s side include distance swimmers Peter Kotson, Brandon Shreeve, Jay Bollinger, Brandon Deckard and Chris Taber.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the distance side of things, we have three elite mile swimmers Peter, Brandon and Jay,\u201d said Dykstra. \u201cThose guys are going to do a lot for us and they have a shot of making it to the NCAA\u2019s as freshman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrandon will be one of our top performers in the backstrokes and IM\u2019s as he is right there, training stroke-for-stroke with Kristian every day,\u201d noted Dykstra. \u201cwon the long course fly at the summer junior nationals, which is fast . If he can figure out his walls and how to convert long course into short course swims at the level, he will be right there making NCAA\u2019s in the 200 fly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the duel meet in Colorado, the women\u2019s team will head to Boise, Idaho, next Wednesday, Oct. 8 to face Boise State at Boise West YMCA. Both teams will then take a three-week break in competition before heading to Las Vegas, Ariz., to take on Arizona and UNLV in a dual meet at Buchanan Natatorium.<\/p>\n