The following is a press release courtesy of the Utah Utes:
WHAT: Utah hosts Denver
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 | 4 p.m. (MT)
WHERE: Salt Lake City, Utah (Ute Natatorium)
RANKINGS: (Women) Utah/NA, DEN/#23 | (Men) Utah/#24, DEN/NA
LAST MEETING: Feb, 3, 2014 |(Women) W, 152-148 | (Men) L, 174-126
UP NEXT
The Utah men’s and women’s swimming & diving team will host Denver this Friday, Jan. 23 at the Ute Natatorium. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Utes have been on a break for the past week. The team competed against Arizona State on Jan. 9 where the men came out on top, 174.5-119.5. The women were ultimately topped by the Sun Devils, 191-108.
The Ute men picked up nine wins for the day against Arizona State. The men opened up with a win in the 200 medley relay as the team of Ben Scott, Jack Burton, Alex Fernandes and Nick Sodel tapping in first-place with a time of 1:30.34. Other first place finishes came from Soedel in the 50 free (19.87) and in the 100 free (43.58), Fernandes in the 100 fly (48.59) and Bence Kiraly who picked up wins in all of his events, the 200 free (1:37.60), 500 free (4:31.36) and recorded his season-best in the 200 individual medley event (3:02.50).
For the women, there were four wins for the day. Picking up the first win for the women was Maddie Jamora in the 50 free (23.34) followed by Amanda Barrett in the 200 back (2:02.41). Maddie Meisel later picked up a win in the 500 free (4:56.53) followed by Melissa Paahk in the 100 fly (56..64).
The Ute divers are coming off a successful weekend at the UCLA Invitational. Jacob Crayne took second on the one-meter event with a score of 673.55. He ended up taking third on the three-meter event (393.70) and took eighth on platform (214.80).
Amanda Casillas recorded a new personal best in the one-meter event where she finished seventh with a score of 281.20. Also in the event was Jasmine Matkovic in 19th (222.65) and Lauren Hall in 21st (221.80).
During the final day of competition at the UCLA Invitational, Matkovic finished fourth on platform with a score of 483.35. Following her in fifth was Casillas with a score of 441.00. Lauren Hall took 22nd (175.55).
Utah Rankings
The Utah men’s team is ranked No. 24 according to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) last poll, which was released back on Dec. 11, 2014. The Utah women’s squad is currently not ranked heading into this weekend’s meet.
Utah Notes
The Utah men’s team is 7-0 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 meets, while the women’s team is 3-5 overall and 0-4 against Pac-12 competition.
The Utah men have non-conference wins over Air Force (259-113), Colorado Mesa (297-67 and 179-101), BYU (236-136) and UNLV (192-102) with a Pac-12 win over Arizona (187-113) and Arizona State (174.5-119.5), while the women’s squad have picked up non-conference victories over Colorado Mesa (314-60), BYU (291-83) and UNLV (208-91).
Denver Notes
The Denver women are coming off a win this past weekend, Jan. 17 against Wyoming, 152-148. The men Pioneers were topped by Wyoming, 176-124.
Highlights from the meet include a first place finish from the 200 medley relay team of Johanna Roas, Amanda Sanders, Sam Corea and Drew Matthews who touched in at 1:43.26. other wins came from Bridgette McNally in the 1,000 free (10:41.14) and Maddie Myers in the 200 free (1:53.42.).
For the men, there were wins from Dylan Bunch in the 1,000 free (9:34.08) and Anton Loncar in the 200 back with a time of 1:50.27.
Previous Meeting
Last season, the women’s swimming and diving team came out on top against Denver, 152-148. The men fell to the Pioneers, 174-126.
Nick Soedel broke pool records in the 50 free respectively (19.92) and 100 free respectively (43.82), winning both events.
Amanda Barrett took second in the 200 back (2:04.92) and fourth in the 200 free (1:55.22).
What the Coaches are Saying
Utah Head Coach Joe Dykstra –
“We are excited to be competing at home for the first time in a couple months. Denver is a top 25 team on the women’s side and not far out of the rankings on the men’s side so they present a great challenge for us. We look forward to a really hard fought competition.”
Up Next
Following the meet against Denver, the Utes will take a break for a week and will return to the pool on Feb. 6 where the Ute women will host Oregon State at the Ute Natatorium. Both teams will then host rival BYU the next day, Feb. 7.
The Utah diving team will be competing next Friday, Jan. 30 where they will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to compete in the Air Force Diving Invitational.
