Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p>\n
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah swimming picked up a split against regional rival Denver.<\/p>\n
The Utah men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split with Denver this Friday as the No. 21-ranked Ute men\u2019s squad defeated Denver, 178-120, but the women fell to No. 23-ranked Denver, 156-144.<\/p>\n
The men remain undefeated on the season, improving to 8-0 overall after recording 11 first-place finishes on Friday. The women\u2019s squad, despite picking up seven first-place finishes on Friday, fell to 3-6 overall with the loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a good, hard competition,\u201d said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “We know it every time we face Denver and I am proud of the way our kids raced. We have had a brutal month of training and they are not feeling fresh. Their times are very good because we are tired and beat up getting ready for the championships meets at the end. I\u2019m proud of the way we fought through that. We were a little short handed on the women\u2019s side today and still managed to make it a very close meet against the No. 23-ranked team in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys haven’t beat Denver since 2006. To stay undefeated in the season is a big deal. I asked the guys before the meet when the last time Utah beat Denver in a meet and they answered, in unison, 2006. They were focused, hungry. They wanted to stay undefeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ute men opened up the meet with a first place finish in the 400 medley relay as the team of Kristian Kron, Jack Burton, Alex Fernandes and Nick Soedel touched in with a time of 3:21.89. Soedel would later claim the first-place spot in the 200 free (1:38.63), as well as the 100 free (44.41).<\/p>\n
Kron would go on to have a monster day for the Utes, winning the 200 back (1:49.42), 100 back (50.62) and 400 IM (4:00.13).<\/p>\n
In the 1,000 free, Bence Kiraly claimed second-place with a time of 9:21.31 and Brandon Shreeve followed in third-place (9:37.31).<\/p>\n
The duo would later go two-three again in the 500 free when Kiraly touched in 4:31.07 and Shreeve followed with a time of 4:37.92.<\/p>\n
It went one-two-three finish for the Utes in the 50 free when Fernandes took top honors with a time of 21.13 and was followed by Sean Bloore (21.74) then Alex Brown (21.88), respecively. Fernandes also claimed the top spot in the 100 fly with a time of 49.11.<\/p>\n
In another one-two-three finish, Burton took first-place in the 200 breast (2:05.70) and he was followed by Brandon Young (2:06.99) and Ganem Tebet (2:07.61).<\/p>\n
Burton later took second in the 100 breast (57.99), while Young finished in third-place (58.19).<\/p>\n
Louis Macias would closeout individual performances for the men\u2019s squad with a second-place finish in the 200 fly (1:52.09) and David Fraser followed in third (1:54.10).<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s squad closed out Friday\u2019s completion with another win as Soedel, Fernandes, Bloore and Kiraly teamed up to take first-place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:21.75.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, Stina Colleou took first in the 100 breast (1:05.12) and Brianna Francis was right behind her in second (1:05.36). Colleou later won the 200 breast event with a time of 2:19.46.<\/p>\n
Petra Soininen took top honors in the 200 fly (2:03.77), while Maddie Jamora later took first in the 50 free (23.83). Soininen later claimed second in the 100 fly with a time of 56.14.<\/p>\n
The team of Megan Kawaguchi, Colleou, Soininen and Guiliana Gigliotti touched in second in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:47.58. Taking second in the relay was Shayla Archer, Francis, Melissa Paakh and Jamora with a time of 3:47.61.<\/p>\n
Gigliotti recorded a pair of third-place finishes in both the 50 free (24.06) and 100 free (52.43), while Hailey Pabst also came away with a third-place finish in the 200 back (2:05.48).<\/p>\n
Kawaguchi also posted a second-place finish in the 100 back (57.06).<\/p>\n
Maddie Meisel touched in third-place in both the 500 free (5:03.55) and 1,000 free (10:24.58).<\/p>\n
Dorien Butter, Jamora, Rhianna Williams and Gigliotti teamed together to closeout the meet, taking first-place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:35.34.<\/p>\n
In diving, Jasmine Matkovic took first in the three-meter event with a score of 304.20. Amanda Casillas followed in second (290.03) and Lauren Hall followed in third (274.88).<\/p>\n
Hall took home her first collegiate win in the one-meter with a score of 281.48, which also served as her personal best in the event. Casillas took second-place in the same event with a score of 269.18)<\/p>\n
Jacob Crayne claimed the top spot in the men\u2019s three-meter with a score of 356.18, while taking second in the one-meter event with a score of 301.28.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was our best meet overall as a team,\u201d said Utah head diving coach Richard Marschner. \u201cThe girls did awesome. Lauren had her best meet ever as a collegian and she won her first collegiate meet, which is great. She got her zone scores and personal bests on both events. I am really proud of her, coming through and diving really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacob had a great meet,\u201d Marschner added. \u201cHe was injured last week and toughed it out and ended up winning three-meter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Utah\u2019s swimming teams will take a break before returning to the pool two weeks from now when the women\u2019s squad hosts Oregon State in a Pac-12 meet on Friday, Feb. 6 and both teams take on rival BYU that following Saturday, Feb. 7.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the diving teams will compete next weekend in the Air Force Diving Invitational, which is set to get underway next Friday, Jan. 30 in Colorado Springs, Colo.<\/p>\n
Pionners first meet of the weekend took place Friday afternoon at the University of Utah. This was predicted to be a close match up for the 23rd ranked Women\u2019s Swim and Dive team and it was as they edged out Utah by a score of 156-144.<\/p>\n
The Men took on the 24th ranked Men\u2019s team of Utah who proved to be a tough matchup. With close finishes throughout the afternoon it wasn’t enough as the men as they fell 178-120.<\/p>\n
Saturday, the Pioneers head south for the second of their back to back meets. Denver will be in Provo to take on the BYU Cougars. This match up will be another test for the Pioneers as the Cougars are reigning MPSF Champions.<\/p>\n