Cal Women Defeat Utah 160-100

by Emma Edmund 1

November 07th, 2021 College, News, Pac-12

Utah vs. Cal

  • November 5, 2021
  • Ute Natatorium, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Short course yard (25 yards)
  • Results Link
  • Team scores:
    • Cal W defeat Utah W 160-100

The sixth-ranked Cal women defeated the Utah women on Friday 160-100, winning 12 out of the 14 events in the process.

At about 4800 feet, the University of Utah qualifies for the middle tier of NCAA altitude conversions in events 100 yards or longer. 100-yard races get to subtract .10 seconds. 200 yard races cut 1.2 seconds off. 400-and 500-yard races get 5 seconds off, and the 1000 free gets 11.4 seconds off.

Since 2017, the two teams have gone head-to-head three times, with Cal winning each time, including this one. This meet, however, marked the smallest point difference between the two teams, with Cal only winning by 60 points, compared to 73 and 72 points the two prior meets. This is also the first time since Cal visited Utah for the series since 2017, with fifth-year Robin Neumann the only swimmer who swam at both away meets for Cal.

Cal’s upperclass trio of Sarah DiMeco, Ayla Spitz, and Isabel Ivey all won two individual events, leading the way for the team.

DiMeco took home both distance events, the 1000 (10:17.49) and 500 (5:02.18). Her 1000 time, however, was her slowest of the season, even with the altitude conversion. In the opener against UVA, DiMeco swam the 1000 in 9:58.94. Her 500 with the conversion, however, would be 4:57.18, the fastest of her season. 

Spitz won the 200 free (1:49.83) and 200 back (2:01.26). Spitz led a 1-2-3-4 Cal sweep in the 200 free. 

The last time the Golden Bears participated in a dual meet was against UVA in mid-October, and at that meet, Spitz took second to Ivey in the 200 free, swimming 1:47.26 to Ivey’s 1:45.27. On Friday, though, Ivey didn’t swim the 200 free, and Spitz took home the win. 

Spitz also just missed her season best of 2:01.05 in the 200 back, set at the Chick-Fil-A Invite. With the conversion, she would beat it.

Ivey won the 100 back (53.31) and the 100 free (50.55). Her 100 back was the fastest of the season so far. 

Another individual event winner for Cal was Rachel Klinker in the 200 fly, with a time of 2:00.09. Klinker ended last season as the Pac-12 winner in the 200 fly, and her time at that meet (1:52.82) placed her fourth on Cal’s all-time best list in the event. At the 2021 NCAA championships, she placed ninth in the event. At this meet, she was about three seconds off her season-best time of 1:57.82, set at the Chick-Fil-A Invite.

Freshman Mia Kragh won the 100 fly in 55.60. Kragh was named to the 2021-22 U.S. Junior National Team in the 100m fly, and she also competed in the event at Wave I of Olympic Trials. Her best time of the season is 53.53, set at the Chick-Fil-A Invite.

Cal also won both relays, the 200 medley in 1:40.21 and the 200 free in 1:32.24.

Utah won two individual events. Senior Leyre Casarin won the 50 free in 23.25. This is her fastest swim of the season, beating her previous best time by a tenth of a second. Charity Pittard won the 200 breast in 2:19.04, also her fastest time of the season.

We had a solid day today and our schedule didn’t get any easier bringing in another top six ranked team, who’s been right there fighting for national titles over the last few years,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra in a news release. “They are loaded with national team members and Olympians but we went hard. We raced hard, went stroke for stroke in a lot of events and even came out with a win in a few of them.”

Utah also had a number of top-three individual finishes, including a 2-3 finish by Casarin (50.73) and Maddie Woznick (52.09) in the 100 free. Molly Jacobson finished second in the 500 free (5:06.45), Emma Lawless finished second in the 100 fly (56.25), and Sydney Rogness touched second in the 400 IM (4:29.13). 

The Utah women’s swimmers return to the pool Dec. 3 for the Princeton Invite, while the Utah women’s dive team will compete at the Texas Diving Invitational in late November. The Cal women return December 1 for the Minnesota Invite.

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Wow
2 years ago

Cal women were quite quick in the Utah pool. Toss that excuse for the Stanford performance.