Cougars dominate Colorado Mesa

PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s swimming and diving teams were unstoppable against Colorado Mesa, dominating 237-62 and taking first in every event of the meet on Saturday at the Richards Building pool.

 “We’re happy to have Colorado Mesa come and give us some competition,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We performed great and took first place in every single event today.”

Hayden Palmer swam a pool record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:57.91 to beat the previous record of 3:59.41 set by Gary Tan in 2004.

“Hayden broke the record by two seconds and we were just hoping he would break it by a half of a second,” Brooks said. “He’s been training very hard and wants to go to the NCAA [championships] more than anything.”

Across the platform at the diving pool, Nicholas Suder and Matt Hopper led the men’s team on the 1-meter platform taking first and second place and earning points for the Cougars. Suder recorded a score of 341.10 and Hopper 308.55.

The meet began with a sweep by the Cougars in the 400 medley relay. The team of Rainer Ng, Chad Sorensen, McKay King and Stott Bushnell took first place with a time of 3:24.79.

Stott Bushnell pulled another win for BYU in the 1000 free with a time of 10:04.77.

In the 200 free, Hayden Palmer earned the first-place finish with a time of 1:42.99. Teammate Jake Taylor came in close behind to take second place with a time of 1:45.34.

McKay King took first place for the Cougars in the 100 back with a time of 51.89.

Chad Sorensen earned his first individual event of the meet in the 100 breast. He touched the wall in 58.28 with teammates Andrew Rutherfurd and Michael King close behind to sweep the top-three positions.

Lucas Aquino swam the 200 fly for the win with a time of 1:53.44.

Jordan Fletcher impressed the audience with his 50 free performance, swimming the down and back in just 20.33. Ng came in a close second with a time of 21.64.

McKay King earned his second individual win of the night in the 100 free by posting a time of 47.71. Rutherfurd came in close behind at 47.28.

In the 200 back, Ng earned his first of the day with a time of 1:52.10. Stephen Richards and Taylor helped earn the sweep in the event.

Rafael Alfaro, Palmer and Michael King earned the sweep in the 200 breast. Alfaro led with a time of 2:08.78.

Aquino took yet another win with his time of 4:51.06 in the 500 free. He finished a full four seconds before his opponents.

Fletcher showed his speed yet again in the 100 fly where he touched the wall in 50.14. Ng finished right behind him in second.

To finish the meet, the team of Fletcher, King, Bushnell and Taylor worked hard to earn the victory in the 200 free at 1:23.85. 

To see the results of the women’s meet versus Boise State, visit the women’s schedule page.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will stay in Provo the next two weeks to prepare for their next meet on Saturday, Nov. 9 when they will host UNLV.