The Cougars took a win and a loss against the University of Denver Saturday at the Richards Building Pool, with the BYU men outscoring Denver with a close 158-142 and the women falling 171 to 124.
“Our guys battled it out, they’re tough and they’ve done a great job all season,” BYU head coach John Brooks said in a statement to BYU Athletics. “It was a good way to regroup after ASU. On the girl’s side, we’re young and we also have a lot of girls that are injured, so we’re hoping to improve next week.”
Denver kicked off the meet with a first-place finish by their A relay in the 200 Medley Relay (1:43.48) ahead of BYU’s A team (1:45.78). The Cougar A relay touched first on the men’s side (1:31.45), and Denver’s A team was just behind for second (1:33.21).
Denver teammates Grace Sommerville (17:34.35) and Clara Jenck (17:42.66) took a 1-2 sweep in the women’s 1650 Free ahead of BYU’s Vanessa Moffatt (17:56.28). The Denver men continued with a 1-2-3 sweep, led by Dylan Bunch (16:01.93). His teammates Jeremiah Zgliczynski (16:20.11) and Alex Walton (16:22.54) finished second and third, respectively.
In the 200 Free, Denver freshman Maddie Myers (1:54.58) touched just ahead of teammate Morgan Mullenix (1:54.72) for the win. BYO teammates Lauren Taylor (1:55.32) and Allison McCormick (1:56.42) took third and fourth for the Cougars. BYU’s Jake Taylor took his first event win of the meet in the men’s 200 Free (1:38.09) ahead of a 2-3 Denver finish. Taylor just edged Denver’s Ray Bornman (1:38.36) for the win. Bornman‘s teammate and 1650 winner Dylan Bunch was third in 1:40.76.
Denver’s Sam Corea touched first in the 100 Back in 55.05 ahead of a 2-3 BYU finish by Ciera Keller (57.43) and Haley Bertoldo (58.23). Corea‘s Denver teammate Zoe Huddleston followed up just three one-hundredths of a second behind for fourth in 58.26. On the men’s side, BYU’s Rainer Ng took the event in 49.24. He was followed by Denver teammates Anton Loncar (51.76) and Jared Smith (51.83).
Amanda Sanders (1:04.75) touched first for Denver in the 100 Breast ahead of BYU’s Riley Buer (1:06.04) and Anna Dahl (1:06.95). Denver junior Stephen Richards took the event on the men’s side in 56.66, with Denver’s Tim Cottam following up for second (57.28). Richards‘ teammate Michael King touched just a few tenths behind for third in 57.54.
Denver’s Grace Sommerville took her second event win of the meet in the 200 Fly (2:06.80), touching just seven one-hundredths of a second ahead of BYU’s Lillian Moore (2:06.87) for first. Moore‘s teammate Vanessa Moffatt followed up for third in 2:09.54. Denver continued on for a 1-2-3 sweep in the men’s 200 Fly, with Andrew Torres taking the top spot in 1:50.67. His teammates Scott Bergstrom (1:53.03) and Ben Ussery (1:54.53) took second and third.
Denver continued their winning streak into the 50 Free with a 1-2 finish by Drew Matthews (23.75) and Johanna Roas (23.84). BYU’s Alora Foliaki touched third in 24.61. Jake Taylor took home his second win for the Cougars in the 50 Free in 20.94. One tenth of a second behind for second place was Denver’s Ray Bornman (21.04), and his teammate Willy Van Dehy took third (21.37).
On the diving side of the competition, Denver’s Dana Gau scored ahead of a 2-3-4 BYU charge in the 1-meter with 269.18 points. BYU teammates Mackenzie Rands (258.60), Megan Harris (244.20) and Haley Quinn (232.05) rounded out the top four. The BYU women returned to take a 1-2 finish in the 3-meter, with Mackenzie Rands taking the top spot with 283.12 points. Her teammate Megan Harris was second with 276.00 points.
BYU took top honors in both of the diving events for the men, with Cougar Nathan Gonsales scoring first in the 3-meter (361.65) ahead of Denver’s Ross Edfort (342.90). BYU teammates Nic Suder (346.28) and Kevin Dreesen (333.68) completed a 1-2 sweep in the 1-meter.
Denver’s Drew Matthews took her second win of the meet and swept the sprint events with a first-place finish in the 100 Free (51.83), leading a 1-2-3 Denver finish. Her teammates Zoe Huddleston (52.19) and Morgan Wice-Roslin (53.44) touched second and third, respectively. Denver teammates Ray Bornman (45.79) and Willy Van Dehy (46.29) took the top two spots on the men’s side, with BYU’s King McKay touching third just seven one hundredths of a second behind in 46.36.
Johanna Roas claimed a win for Denver in the 200 Back (2:01.97) ahead of a 2-3 finish by BYU’s Haley Bertoldo (2:05.22) and Ciera Keller (2:06.81). Jake Taylor shined again for the Cougars with a first-place finish on the men’s side (1:49.90) ahead of Denver teammates Anton Loncar (1:50.73) and Jared Smith (1:52.06).
Denver’s Amanda Sanders completed a sweep of the breaststroke events with a win in the 200 Breast (2:19.08) ahead of teammate Maddie Myers (2:21.72) and BYU’s Riley Buer (2:24.56). BYU’s Stephen Richards swept the breaststrokes on the men’s side, swimming to a win in 2:05.22. He touched just ahead of Denver’s Tim Cottam (2:05.50). Cottam‘s teammate Travis Greenwald was third in 2:06.87.
Denver swept the 500 Free with a 1-2-3 finish led by Bridgette McNally (5:04.25). Her teammates Morgan Mullenix (5:08.89) and Nicole Cassou (5:11.23) touched second and third, respectively. BYU’s Vanessa Moffatt was just one one-hundredth of a second behind for fourth in 5:11.24. Dylan Bunch took his second event win for Denver in the men’s event (4:34.87), finishing ahead of BYU’s Luis Ventura (4:36.77).
In the 100 Fly, Denver’s Sam Corea earned her second even win of the meet (55.54), finishing ahead of teammate Drew Matthews (56.68). BYU’s Haley Bertoldo was third in 57.19. Denver’s Andrew Torres (49.25) edged BYU’s Rainer Ng (49.53) for the win on the men’s side.
BYU took a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM, with the charge led by Riley Buer (2:12.01). Following up for second and third were her teammates Hanna Skaggs (2:15.35) and Kerra Bispo (2:15.99). On the men’s side, BYU’s Stephen Richards took his third event of the meet in 1:52.74. Denver teammates Ben Severino (1:54.54) and Lane Bretschneider (1:55.59) were second and third.
The BYU women swept the 400 Free Relay, with the A team taking first in 3:34.51. It was a close race in the men’s event, with BYU’s A team (3:02.93) edging Denver’s A team (3:03.16) for the win.
For full meet results, click here.
