Cougars on top after day one of duel against TCU

PROVO, Utah — BYU swim and dive had an impressive day one performance against TCU and looks to continue its momentum on Friday. 

The Cougars competed in 18 events on the day, with 16 of them being swim events of various strokes and relays. 

Swimmers Brynn Sproul, Mackenzie Miller, Charlotte Fie'eiki and Halli Williams began Thursday's events, winning the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:51.83. The men followed up the strong start with a team of Diego Camacho, Josue Dominguez, Javier Nicolas and Brigham Harrison all contributing to a new pool record of 3:14.98. Going into the first break of the day, the men held a 15-0 lead and the women led 13-4. 

BYU never looked back from here, winning seven of the next ten events and leading with scores of 88-22 for the men and 60-52 for the women. Tama Tuitama swam a personal record in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:59.64, bringing home the win. 

Freshman Mackenzie Miller turned in a strong performance in the women's 100-yard breaststroke event, placing second with a time of 1:05.36. Katie McBratney-Graves won the event with a time of 1:04.30 for the Cougars. 

The Cougars would close out the day winning three of the final four events. Dominguez followed the impressive women's 100-yard breaststroke times with a solid time of 55.53. Sproul and Camacho also went on to sweep the 100-yard backstroke events with times of 56.30 and 49.11. The teams would finish with a 200-yard freestyle relay, as the women placed second with a time of 1:36.23, and the men winning the event with a time of 1:21.73. 

The divers also contributed to the teams dominance, with Freshman Alexia Jackson, Tessa Watkins and Hailey Johnson sweeping the top three spots in the 3 meter dive with scores of 315.05, 279.05 and 278.30. On the men's side, Mickey Strauss placed first in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 354.45 to cap off the Cougars' successful day. 

"We had so many of our athletes step up tonight," said BYU coach Shari Skabelund. "We are pleased with the entire team's performance and look forward to competing again tomorrow." 

Heading into tomorrow's events, the men hold a commanding lead over the Horned Frogs with a score of 125-40, while the women hold a 96-71 lead. The events will take place again at the Richards Building Pool, beginning at 10 a.m. MDT.