BYU shows fight in Dual with Utah

PROVO, Utah — In a meet consisting of 34 total events over the weekend, both the men and women swim and dive teams fell to the Utes in this dual matchup to close out conference play. 

This weekend's loss marked the first of the season for the men's team, losing 163-137. For the women, they moved to 2-3 in dual matches this year, scoring 74 points to Utah's 226. 

Alexia Jackson of the women's dive team finished with the highest score of the team for the second day in a row, posting a 269.85 in the 1 meter dive. For the men, Mickey Strauss led the way again, narrowly finishing in second place with a 372.10 behind Luke McDivitt's 386.75 for Utah in the 3 meter dive. 

Individually, a number of solid performances were turned in by the Cougar swimmers Saturday morning at the Ute Natatorium. Darwin Anderson helped get BYU on track in the 1650-yard freestyle, swimming a 16:02.99 for a first place finish. Abe Barragan also competed hard for the men in the 200-yard freestyle, posting a 1:40.94 to narrowly place second for the event. 

Diego Camacho had a solid day as well for the men, coming in second in the 100-yard backstroke with a  49.90, and coming back in the 200-yard backstroke to win the event, swimming a 1:49.90. 

In the 100-yard breaststroke, the Cougars nearly went 1-2-3, as Evan VanderSluis (56.11), William Bonnett (56.14) and Emerson Edwards (57.16) finished first, second and fourth for the event. VanderSluis also went on to finish with a 2:05.09 in the 200-yard breaststroke for a third place finish. Max Cannon placed second in the event with a 2:04.81. 

The 100-yard butterfly featured strong performances from Javier Nicolas, Brad Prolo and Tony Puertas. Nicolas won the event outright with a 47.65, while Prolo (49.40) and Puertas (50.50) went on to place second and fourth. The 200-yard butterfly also so Prolo finish second for the event, swimming a 1:50.35, while Puertas went on to finish third with a 1:53.42.

Brigham Harrison and Nicolas lifted the Cougars to a victory in the 50-yard freestyle as well. Harrison placed first with a 20.72, while Nicolas narrowly finished in second with a 20.82.

For the women's swim team, the highlight of the events came in the 500-yard freestyle, as Regan Geldmacher (5:04.50), Megan Bergstrom (5:05.34) and Victoria Schreiber (5:06.16) went 1-2-3 for the Cougars. Geldmacher also went on to finish fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle event, swimming a 17:41.55. 

Brynn Sproul helped contribute to the Cougars' point tally in the 200-yard freestyle with a third place finish, swimming a 1:55.01. Emma Marusakova followed up Sproul's performance with a 57.01 in the 100-yard backstroke. 

The 200-yard butterfly saw Daniela Flores-Bautista and Elle Decker finish second and third in the event, with Flores-Bautista swimming a 2:07.65 and Decker posting a 2:08.26. Colette Masino also got in on the action in the 100-yard butterfly, as her 58.23 was good for third place in the event. 

The women closed out the event with a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with a team Lily Flint, Julia Bartell, Marusakova and Halli Williams posting a 1:36.54. 

"The athletes battled hard this weekend," said swim coach Shari Skabelund. "We had several close races and lots of positives as the men's and women's teams competed. We're grateful for the opportunity we have to keep working and get better." 

The divers will now turn their attention to the Diving Air Force Invite, Feb. 3 and 4, while the swimmers will look to prepare for the MPSF Championships, Feb. 15-18. More information regarding the events will be provided as they near.