The University of Utah women’s swimming team along with both diving contingents will compete in the Pac-12 Championships this week at the King Aquatic County Center in Federal Way, Wash. Events will start tomorrow and run through Sat., Feb. 25.
“We are excited for some fast racing and great diving this week up in Federal Way,” said Utah head coach Joe Dykstra. “This meet brings out the best in everyone and we are looking forward to getting qualified for NCAA’s.”
The finals will be broadcasted live on the Pac-12 Network, Sat. Feb. 25. Coverage of the prelims and earlier finals will be streamed live on Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app.
Links to live results will be available on Pac-12.com and results will also be posted on the Pac-12 website (www.pac-12.com).
UTAH NOTES
The women are 4-6 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 competition this season. The Utes have non-conference wins over UNLV (178-122), Denver (158-140) and BYU (181-112) while their Pac-12 victory was over Oregon State (157-96).
Senior Stina Colleou leads the Utes with the most wins this season. She has nine first-place finishes, three in the 100 breast and six in the 200 breast. She also has six top-10 finishes in the 100 breast.
Sophomore Jordan Anderson is a close second behind Colleou for total wins. She has eight first-place finishes; six in the 100 fly with one in the 500 free and one in the 200 IM.
Sophomore Genevieve Robertson has won five events this season. She has two in the 100 breast and three in the 200 breast. She also has three top-five finishes in the 100 breast.
Another sophomore with multiple first-place finishes is Darby Wayner. She has three wins in the 100 fly and 14 top-10 finishes.
Other Utah swimmers who have won multiple events this season are Mallori Allen (100 back, 200 back), Dorien Butter (100 free), Mckenna Gassaway (100 breast), Sarah Lott (200 free), Kristine Pataray (50 free), Julienne Tadena (100 IM) and Kat Wickham (1,000 free).
Utah has eight swimmers that have consistently earned top-five finishes while just missing out on individual wins. Those Utes include Shayla Archer (5), Sydney Bull (5), Mariah Gassaway (5), Megan Kawaguchi (5), Isabella Kearns (19), Jenna Marsh (6), Hailey Pabst (7) and Christina Pick (12).
Over on the boards, Josiah Purss has 11 first-place finishes. Purss swept both the one and three-meter events against BYU, Denver, Arizona and Arizona State.
He also won Pac-12 Diver of the Month for the January becoming the first Ute to earn Pac-12 honors since Bence Kiraly in January of 2015.
Amanda Casillas has won eight events and earned six top-five finishes. She swept both events against Arizona State, Arizona and BYU. At the Ohio State Invitational, she just missed the top spot in both the three-meter and platform events.
LAST TIME OUT
The Utes fell to WSU earlier this month, 151-11.
Anderson took first in the 200 fly, touching in at 2:01.52. She also claimed second in the 500 free (4:59.36) and in the 400 IM (3:26.71).
Tadena was first in the 100 free, winning with a time of 51.48.
In the 200 breast, Colleou finished first with a time of 2:15.96 with Robertson following in second (2:16.34). Robertson also took second in the 100 breast (1:03.46) while Colleou was third (1:04.84).
Other second-place finished put up during the meet were by Lott in the 200 free (1:51.90), Allen in both the 100 back (57.89) and 200 back (2:05.00) and Pataray in the 50 free (23.99).
2016 Pac-12 Championships Recap
Last year, Utah finished sixth overall at the Championships tallying 538.5 points. The squad has finished sixth the last three seasons after finishing seventh after their first two years in the Pac-12.
Utah topped Washington State (477), ASU (472.5) and Oregon State (291). USC came away with the title with 1,481 points.
Highlights from the Championships include Colleou and Purss finishing in the top five in their respective events and Utah setting three school records.
Colleou finished fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:09.79. Purss stepped on the podium as he took third on the one-meter (385.50).
A relay team of Kawaguchi, Robertson, Marsh and Gillian St.John finished with a time of 1:38.61 in the 200 medley to break the previous school record of 1:39.36.
Anderson set the school record of 4:12.31 in the 400 IM as she finished seventh in the “A” finals. Kawaguchi also broke the school record in the 200 back. She took the top spot in the “C” finals touching in at 1:56.85.
UTES IN THE PAC-12
(Italics Indicate NCAA B Time)
Jordan Anderson
1,650 Free – 15th – 16:41.44
400 IM – 7th – 4:12.67
Shayla Archer
100 Back – 21st – 54.43
Stina Colleou
100 Breast – 11th – 1:01.29
200 Breast – 5th – 2:09.90
Mariah Gassaway
100 Breast – 22nd – 1:02.64
Mckenna Gassaway
100 Breast – 24th – 1:02.79
Sarah Lott
100 Back – 25th – 54.81
Jenna Marsh
100 Fly – 25th – 54.44
Genevieve Robertson
200 Breast – 18th – 2:15.44
Cassidy Stein
400 IM – 23rd – 4:19.84
News courtesy of Utah Athletics.
