Utah vs Denver
- January 17, 2025
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Utah Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah swimming and diving program had a domination of a day, the swimmers topped University of Denver, both teams winning by over 100 points at the Ute Natatorium and the divers collected four final spots and three medals in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday.
The swimming program hosted the University of Denver for the first time since 2020. The women’s team currently sits on a 3-0 record over the Pioneers after today’s 166-96 success. The men’s team added to their overall record of 2-1 against Denver after tallying a 199-63 win.
As for the divers, the second day of competition consisted of the men taking on the 3m springboard and the women competing 1m, where the top twelve divers on both boards would continue on to finals. For the Utes, Holly Waxman, Kathryn Grant, Jesco Helling and Elias Petersen earned a place in finals.
“In terms of diving and swimming, we’re in a great spot,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “This meet was a challenge for our divers, but I know that once we get to conference and zones they’re going to be ready to go. As for swimming, we’re going to keep on refining our races, but a lot of people improved from last week. A lot of people who were out-touched last week were able to dig in and get a win today. So overall, I’m very pleased. ”
Back in SLC
“I’m happy with how we raced, we didn’t back down or rest this meet. We went hard and everyone did what they were supposed to do,” said Persson.
Women Take the Dub
- The first win in the women’s pockets was the 400-yard medley relay, coming in at 3:46.01.
- Chloe Thompson finished in first for the 1,000-yard freestyle at 10:26.45. She collected her second gold in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:04.44.
- Isabella Riso grabbed the gold in the 200-free with a 1:52.63.
- In the 100-yard backstroke Norah Hay clocked a 56.03, grabbing the top spot, later she would finish the 200-back at 2:00.13 for her second gold.
- Erin Palmer started a sweep for the women in the 100-breast with a 1:02.94. She later took the gold in the 100-free with a 51.07.
- Julia Bartell finished first for the Utes in the 50-yard free, swimming 23.99, she would collect her second top finish in the 100-yard butterfly, touching in at 57.50.
- Rylee McColley came back for a vengeance in the 200-breast with the top time of 2:19.50.
- Ella Derby finished the individual races for the Utes with a win in the 200-yard IM, swimming in at 2:06.26.
- Utah women then dominated the 200-yard free relay, coming in at 1:33.29, more than two second ahead of Denver.
Men Make it Rain
- The men went 1-2 in the 400-medley relay, touching the wall at 3:18.75 and 3:23.31.
- Owen Carlsen took gold with his 1,000-yard free time of 9:32.49. He would later collect a second first-place finish in the 500-free with a 4:38.38.
- Evan VanBrocklin started two sweeps, one in the 200-free with a swim of 1:39.91 and another in the 100-free finishing with a 45.29.
- Starting another sweep, Jackson Kehler touched in at 50.38 in the 200-back for a first-place finish.
- In the 200-yard butterfly, Jakub Walter swam a 1:50.71 for the top spot.
- Will Woodall swam a 21.01 for the gold in the 50-free.
- Strahinja Maslo took the first finish in the 200-back, touching in at 1:50.18. He earned his second gold in the 200-IM with a finish of 1:52.08.
- Caleb Gallagher earned his first career wins for Utah, one in the 200-breast at 2:04.10 and the other in the 100-breast, coming in at 56.23.
- The Utes finished off the meet with a top finish in the 200-free relay, touching at 1:22.70.
Sweepers
- VanBrocklin started the first sweep of the meet in the 200-free, Oskar Farkas came in second with 1:40.94 and Kellen Cameron took bronze touching in at 1:42.99.
- In the 200-back, Kehler started the Utes off, Parker McOmber came in at 50.88 for the silver and Winston Sundeen snagged the bronze with 51.05. Brandon Miller touched in at 51.64 for the fourth seat in the sweep.
- The women tagged in for their first sweep, Palmer leading the way in the 100-breast, Alyssa Sorenson coming in second with 1:03.59 and McColley touching for third at 1:03.86.
- Clocking his second sweep, VanBrocklin finished first in the 100-free, Nick Chirafisi took second at 45.81, Davis Stachelek earned the bronze with a 46.01 and for that extra fourth seat, Layton Sealman came in at 46.79.
“It’s certainly going to be a big step-up next week to swim SMU and Pitt, it’s going to be a tough meet but we’re ready for it,” said Persson. “We’ve had a few meets where we’ve been able to refine our swims, but that is going to be a be a great challenge. We have a couple more meets left in the season, so I think this will be good for us, but ultimately, we’re in a good place.”
Looking Ahead
The divers will compete tower at Berkeley on Saturday morning. After this weekend, the Utes will travel to Dallas for a tri-meet against Southern Methodist University and University of Pittsburg on Jan. 24-25.
Courtesy: Denver Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs fell in a pair of duals at Utah on Friday evening at the Ute Natatorium.
Team Scores:
Men:
Utah (6-0) 199
Denver (4-1) 63
Women:
Utah (6-1) 166
Denver (3-3) 96
Event-by-Event Recap:
In the first individual event of the day, Nika Spehar led the Pioneer distance swimmers with a second-place finish in the 1000 with a time of 10:28.97.
Denver’s men were led by Kieran Watson in the first distance race of the day with his time of 9:40.08 which was good for third.
Ines Marin led the Pios in the women’s 200 free with a time of 1:52.68 to take second in the event.
In the 100 back, Darian Koler led Denver’s swimmers, dropping more than a half second off her seed time, clocking in at 57.96 to take second.
Denver took the top four spots in the women’s 200 fly on Friday night. Sabrina Rachjaibun led the Pioneer quartet with a time of 2:06.15. Mia Moulden clocked in at 2:06.56 to take second, Mina Ada Solaker finished third in 2:08.14 and Daniela Alfaro rounded out the Denver group in fourth with a time of 2:08.79. On the men’s side, Brandon Chapman led Denver in the 200 fly with a third-place finish in a time of 1:51.62.
The Pioneer women finished 2-3 in the 50 free. Megan Lucyshyn recorded a time of 24.05 and Angie Wyand swam the sprint in 24.31. On the men’s side, Frank Tirone made it a tight race but ultimately finished two tenths off the pace in third with a 21.23.
On the other side of the break, Marin finished third in the 100 free with a time of 52.11.
In the second backstroke event of the day, Koler and Solaker finished 2-3 in the 200 with times of 2:04.23 and 2:05.01, respectively.
Backstroker Dylan Wright finished second in the men’s 200 with his time of 1:50.39.
Jessica Maeda earned a podium spot in the women’s 200 breast, clocking in at 2:22.57 to take third, finishing just 0.15 seconds ahead of Peyton Mullowney who took fourth. In the men’s event, Marco Nosack swam to second in a time of 2:05.89.
Denver’s distance swimmers took the water in the 500 next and Rachjaibun and Spehar earned a 2-3 finish with their times of 5:07.39 and 5:10.30.
Dylan Mes earned a podium spot for the Denver men in the 500 free with his time of 4:41.44.
Moulden and Ali Beay finished 3-4 in the women’s 100 fly on Friday, reaching the wall in times of 58.01 and 58.30, respectively.
Hamish McLellan gave the Denver men their first win of the evening in the 100 fly, outswimming the field in a time of 49.49. Chapman took third in the second-straight butterfly event with a time of 50.62.
The individual events on Friday closed out with the 200 IM. On the women’s side, Solaker took second in 2:08.00, Maeda grabbed third in 2:08.01 and Lilly Zippel finished fourth in 2:08.90.
Denver’s men were led in the 200 IM by Nico Morton who took second in 1:53.78.
UP NEXT: Denver’s swimmers will be back in action tomorrow at BYU. First swim is set for 11 a.m. MT.
