UNLV Women Best Utah, While Utes Men Remain Undefeated in Duel Meet Split

Utah at UNLV

• November 8, 2025
• Buchanan Natatorium, Las Vegas, NV
• SCY
• Results

The Utah men and UNLV women posted victories in a split duel meet last weekend that featured close racing all-around. Utah came out on top over the UNLV men by a score of 178-84, while the UNLV women prevailed by a score of 144-118. Notably, it does not appear that either team held diving at the meet, despite it originally being on the schedule and being listed as an event for Meet Mobile.

Men’s Recap

Utah got off to a strong start in the 200 medley relay with the team of Nolan Dunkel, Caleb Gallagher, Jackson Kehler, and Davis Stachelek posting a time of 1:26.71 to best UNLV’s squad by just over a tenth of a second.

The squad pulled away from UNLV in the next event, with Utah swimmers sweeping the top 3 spots in the 1000 freestyle, led by Nolan Arnholt‘s winning time and personal best swim of 9:15.14. Utah continued its strong showing in the mid-distance and distance events with Nick Chirafisi claiming first in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle as well, in times of 1:36.17 and 4:25.54, respectively.

Along with Chirafisi, Finn Winkler and the aforementioned Gallagher also took home victories in multiple individual events. Winkler posted the top times in the 100 freestyle (43.88) and 200 IM (1:46.55), while Gallagher won both the 100 (54.02) and 200 breaststroke (1:57.50).

Dunkel also assisted the Utah men’s efforts with a victory in the 100 backstroke (46.91), while Jakub Walter added a victory in the 200 butterfly (1:45.67) to solidify the team’s victory.

Despite the loss, UNLV saw several victories as well, with the team’s first win coming via Bryson Huey in the 50 freestyle. Huey posted a time of 19.51 to hold off 4 Utah swimmers poised close behind him. His teammate, Tatsuki Ihoue, led UNLV to victory in the 200 backstroke with a 1:44.79 performance as well.

UNLV closed the meet on a strong note as well, taking home the title in the 400 freestyle relay as the team of Ambrus Barcsak, Emil Jose Perez Avila, Wikus Potgieter, and Huey threw down a time of 2:54.97 for the victory. Notably, Huey closed the race with a 42.87 split, the fastest in the field by over a second to assist his team.

Women’s Recap

Like their men’s team, the Utah women opened the meet with a strong performance in the 200 medley relay, with the team of Megan Legarth, Rylee McColley, Veronica Gourley, and Erin Palmer combining for a final time of 1:41.15 for a .2 second victory over UNLV’s squad.

From there however, it was UNLV’s Grace Wharton who shifted the momentum back towards UNLV, leading the 1000 freestyle as the first event of her 3-win slate with a final time of 10:03.57 to come in just 2 seconds ahead of Utah’s Hayley Smith. Whatron also claimed victory in the 200 backstroke (1:59.77) and 200 IM (2:01.56), playing a key role for UNLV.

Erika Carlson was another multi-event winner for UNLV, as she picked up the mid-distance sweep with victories in the 200 freestyle (1:47.52) and 500 freestyle (4:52.98), notably leading a podium sweep for UNLV in the 200.

UNLV’s other victories included a first place finishes in the 100 backstroke from Dominika Trentkiewicz (54.40), 200 butterfly from Rachel Wigginton (2:00.81), and 100 butterfly from Maria Fernanda Mendez Guerra (54.36).

With the meet on the line, UNLV also saw a key swim from the 400 freestyle relay team of Carlson, Averi Webb, Gina Miller, and Mendez Guerra as the squad swam to a first place finish with a time of 3:19.47.

Utah’s squad also showcased depth in the sprint events with their swimmers combining for 3 out of the top 4 finishers in both the 50 freestyle and 100 freesytle. The aforementioned Palmer led both events for Utah, with times of 22.24 and 49.72, respectively.

McColley was another 2-event winner for Utah as she swept the breaststroke events. In the 100 breaststroke, she posted the win in a time of 1:02.33, while she swam to a 2:12.17 to win the 200 breaststroke.

Following their showdown against UNLV, Utah will be heading down to Texas, with their divers taking on the Texas Diving Invitational from Nov. 13-15 before meeting up with the swimmers for the SMU Invitational the following weekend. UNLV’s divers will also be on the road for the Trojan Diving Invitational at USC from Nov. 20-22, while the swim team will have a couple of weeks off of competition, returning at the Minnesota Invitational being held from Dec. 4-6.