LeVant, Ruck Shine In Cardinal Debut As Stanford Sweeps Utah

Utah vs Stanford

• October 9, 2018
• Stanford, California
• Avery Aquatic Center
• Full Results (PDF)
• Stanford Women’s Press Release
• Utah Women’s Press Release
• Stanford Men’s Press Release
• Utah Men’s Press Releases

The Stanford men and women opened their seasons at home on Tuesday against Utah, with both teams picking up decisive victories. The women won by a score of 193-99, while the men defeated the Utes 190-105.

Women’s Meet

The victory for the Cardinal women extended their run to 24 straight dual meets, 22 in the Pac-12 and 17 straight at home. They won all 16 events on the day.

Freshmen Taylor Ruck and Amalie Fackenthal had very impressive debuts with a pair of individual wins each, while fellow first years Allie Raab, Zoe Bartel and Daria Lenz also had victories.

Ruck came out on top in the 100 (54.09) and the 200 back (1:58.89), while Fackenthal took the 50 free (23.14) and 100 fly (53.46). Raab won the 200 IM (2:01.46), Bartel took the 200 breast (2:13.14), and Lenz won the 1-meter diving event.

Their returners also performed well with Ella Eastin claiming a pair of events in the 500 free (4:50.42) and 200 fly (1:56.53), while Brooke Forde (200 free – 1:50.43), Grace Zhao (100 breast – 1:02.77), Lauren Pitzer (100 free – 50.29) and Megan Byrnes (1000 free – 9:52.59) also had wins. Junior Haley Farnsworth was also the victor in the 3-meter.

In the relays, Ruck, Raab, Fackenthal and Anya Goeders combined to take the 200 medley to open the session in 1:40.96, and Brooke Stenstrom, Pitzer, Forde and Katie Drabot won the 200 free to close things out in 1:35.11.

Darby Wayner and Emma Lawless had the top finishes for Utah, both finishing 2nd in the 200 IM and 100 fly respectively.

Men’s Meet

Jack LeVant, Brad Zdroik and Conor Casey all had two wins apiece as the Cardinal men were dominant in their win over Utah.

LeVant, making his Stanford debut, won the first event of his career in the 200 free in 1:36.47 over fellow freshman Mason Gonzalez (1:38.39), and then went 1-2 with Gonzalez again in the 100 free, 44.86 to 45.00.

The senior Zdroik won the 100 (48.34) and 200 fly (1:48.68), both over sophomore teammate Will Macmillan, while Casey claimed both of the diving events.

The team rested some of their upperclassmen, and in addition to LeVant and Gonzalez a few other freshman stepped up. Daniel Roy won the 200 breast in 1:59.62 over teammates Matt Anderson (2:01.55) and Hank Poppe (2:01.77), while he also took 2nd to Poppe (55.12) in the 100 in 55.75. Jack Walsh also won the 200 back in 1:48.23.

They also had wins from Matthew Hirschberger in the 1000 free (9:15.75), Patrick Conaton taking the 100 back (49.28) in his first race after taking a redshirt year last season, James Murphy in the 500 free (4:28.78) and Alex Liang in the 200 IM (1:49.84).

Utah had an individual win from Rodolfo Moreiro in the 50 free, clocking 20.28, and then he had the fastest split in the field in the 200 free relay (20.00) as they won in 1:21.20. The Stanford men clipped them to open the session in the 200 medley 1:29.38 to 1:29.52.