BYU vs. GRAND CANYON
- January 11, 2020
- Hosted by GCU
- Short Course Yards
- Results
TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
- BYU, 202
- GCU, 89
MEN
- BYU, 159
- GCU, 141
The BYU men and women earned a road victory on Saturday as they topped Grand Canyon. Josue Domingues and Tyler Edlefsen led the way for the BYU men as they took an 18-point win over GCU. Dominguez swept the breaststrokes, dominating the 200 breast by over 2 seconds in 2:06.48. He was also nearly a second ahead of the field in the 100 breast (56.69).
Freshman Edlefsen came within tenths of his lifetime best in the 200 fly. He led that race from start to finish as he hit the wall in 1:51.89. Edlefsen also won the 200 IM, using his front half speed to distance himself from the field in 1:51.90.
The GCU men got a winning double from freshman Mikhail Lyubavskiy, who took 2nd to Edlefsen in the 200 fly (1:54.88). He swept the distance freestyles, coming up just a second shy of his lifetime best in the 1000 free at 9:33.54. He came from behind with a surge in the final 100 yards to win the 500 free in 4:35.64.
On the women’s side, both BYU had another pair of double winners. Charlotte Fieeiki, a BYU freshman, got the ball rolling with a 57.28 in the 100 back. She used her back half speed to win the 100 fly over teammate Tiare Coker, 57.15 to 57.82. Fellow Cougar freshman Katie McBratney won the 100 breast in 1:03.44. She went on to dominate the 200 IM as the only woman under 2:10, clocking in at 2:05.73.
Robyn Edwards and Emily Muteti led the charge for GCU. Edwards came from behind to win the 200 back in 2:06.02 over BYU’s Anna Despain (2:06.59). She trailed at the 150, but outsplit Despain by a full second on the closing 50.
Muteti battled with BYU’s Brenna Leifi in the 200 fly. Muteti led at the 100, but Leifi outsplit her by over a second on the 3rd 50 to take the lead by a tenth. Muteti dug in on the final 50, however, narrowly beating Leifi 2:07.68 to 2:07.77. That was a best time for Muteti by nearly 2 seconds.
PRESS RELEASE – BYU:
PHOENIX – The BYU swim and dive team took 23 first-place wins against Grand Canyon to defeat the Antelopes Saturday afternoon.
The BYU men’s team took the victory over the Antelopes, 159-141, while the Cougar women topped their opponents, 202-89.
The Cougars started off the meet sweeping in the 200-yard medley relays. A team of Brynn Sproul, Lily Plaudis, Charlotte Fie’eiki and Gwen Gustafson earned the first win with a time of 1:43.71. Brayden Murphy, Josue Dominguez, Javier Matta and Connor Stirling secured first for the men at 1:30.95.
The women dominated the board in the 200-yard freestyle event, taking the top three spots. Tiare Coker swam fastest, touching at 1:53.71. Gustafson came close after with a time of 1:53.87 and Sproul followed with a 1:55.07. Gustafson continued to place high as she shined in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, taking first at 23.76.
The men showed up during the 50-yard freestyle, as a trio of Cougars stole the top-three finishes. Jared Shaw led with a time of 20.27, while Stirling and Roger Woods followed in second and third with times of 20.39 and 20.84, respectively. Stirling also swam an impressive 100-yard freestyle, taking the win with a time of 45.22. Woods and Shaw also placed in the top five in the 100-yard freestyle event.
Both the men and women earned first-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard breaststroke events. For the women’s 100-yard butterfly, Fie’eiki represented with a 57.15 win. For the men, Matta swam a 49.73. Teammate Plaudis shined in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, landing at the top with a time of 2:21.34. Dominguez finished first in his 200-yard breaststroke event at 2:06.48.
Several other Cougars brought in first-place finishes in their individual events, including Kali Brown, Tyler Edlefsen, Jessica LeSueur, Katie McBratney, Tanner Murphy and Sproul.
Morgan Mellow-Dopp stood out for the divers in both the 1- and 3-meter events. Mellow-Dopp placed first in the 1-meter, scoring a 250.50 and taking the win in the 3-meter as well with a score of 286.45.
BYU will compete at home against Denver on Friday, Jan. 17, at 1 p.m. MST. The meet will be held at the Richards Building Pool and is open to the public.
PRESS RELEASE – GCU MEN:
The Grand Canyon men’s team fell in a close 159-141 meet to BYU on Saturday at Fr. Edward Reese Aquatic Center in Phoenix.
The Lopes had several great swims along with a strong diving performance from senior Pietro Hufnagel Toscani, who took first place in the 1- and 3-meter dives with scores of 323.70 and 372.30.
“Our men swam unbelievably well today, and gave a strong BYU team a solid run through the final relay,” GCU associate head coach Chris O’Linger said. “It was great to see us step up in some events where we needed to heading into championship season.”
To kick off the meet, the Lopes men finished second in the 200 freestyle medley relay swam by sophomore Kainan Coerin, freshman Amir Haviv, sophomore Mazen Shoukri and sophomore Florent Janin in 1 minute and 30.97 seconds.
The Lopes swept the top three spots in three of the events, including the 1,000 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
In the 1,000 freestyle, the top three places were taken by sophomore Mikhail Lyubavskiy (9:33.54), senior Wiktor Jaszczak (9:38.52) and sophomore Alonso Carazo Barbero.
Freshman Griffin McKean won the 200 freestyle (1:42.38) while junior Dylan Nasser claimed second (1:43.04) and freshman Briggs Shiller took third (1:43.23).
The 100 backstroke was won by Coerin (51.64) while senior Eran Ber took second (51.68) and junior Cameron Carney placed third (51.71).
Lyubavskiy showed a strong performance throughout the meet. On top of the first-place finish in the 1,000, he took first in the 500 freestyle (4:35.64) and then placed second in the 200 butterfly (1:54.88).
Shoukri placed second in the 100 butterfly (50.11) and also helped the Lopes end the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with freshman Omar Khaled, Carney and Janin (3:04.27).
“Putting up in-season times and showing depth like we did today is a testament of our men’s will to compete every chance we get,” O’Linger said. “Our focus will shift toward carrying these types of performances through our WAC and postseason national championships.”
The Lopes return home on Jan. 25 for their Senior Day in a one-day meet against California Baptist at 1 p.m.
Follow GCU swimming and diving on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_Swimming for more information throughout the season.
PRESS RELEASE – GCU WOMEN:
The Grand Canyon women’s team lost its first home meet of the season 202-89 to BYU on Saturday at Fr. Edward Reese Aquatic Center in Phoenix.
The women began the meet with a third-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomore Kyra Forrest, junior Alyssa Christianson, sophomore Emily Muteti and junior Karolina Dyrda finished in 1 minute and 46.97 seconds.
“We were short-handed on the women’s team today,” associate head coach Chris O’Linger said. “Those who competed continued to perform the way we have all year.”
The Lopes were led by Muteti and sophomore Robyn Edwards as they both had first-place finishes. Muteti claimed first place in the 200 butterfly (2:07.68) and Edwards won the 200 backstroke (2:06.02).
Christianson took second in two events on the day: the 200 breaststroke (2:23.91) and 200 individual medley (2:12.36).
GCU took first and second in the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. Senior Salma Zaitoun, Forrest, Dyrda and Muteti led the Lopes to the win in 3:37.56 while junior Diana Jaruseviciute, Edwards, senior Talita Te Flan, and sophomore Hannah Barker finished in second place at 3:51.86.
“We showed a sense of resilience in stealing a couple major races,” O’Linger said. “We’re very proud of where our women’s team is headed and are excited to see what we can carry into the WAC Championship next month.”
The Lopes return home on Jan. 25 for their Senior Day in a one-day meet against California Baptist at 1 p.m.
Follow GCU swimming and diving on Twitter and Instagram at @GCU_Swimming for more information throughout the season.
