Cougars Split Victory With Falcons

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PROVO -- In the first home meet of 2011, the BYU swim team split the victory with the Air Force Falcons Thursday night as the women’s team defeated the Falcons 190-102, while the Falcon men pulled ahead of the Cougars at 155-145.

“I felt like we swam well and I was pleased with our performance in the IM,” BYU Head Coach Tim Powers said. “We showed up and won races, however, losing by ten was tough. We’re a very strong team, but unfortunately so are they so there was a lot of tough competition.”

In the first event of the night, the BYU women started the meet off strong with a 1, 2, 3 sweep in the 200 medley relay. The team consisting of Candice Smith, Sara Jayne Baldwin, Kim Welch and Aleesha Miller finished first with their time of 1:45.96.

In the same event, the Falcon men took first with a team of Ben Gunn, Cody Deacon, Paul Leonhardt, Cody Smith and a time of 1:31.68. The BYU men’s team came in a close second at 1:32.47 with team members Jake Taylor, Vytenis Slenys, McKay King and Christian Keil.

The women achieved another 1, 2, 3, sweep in the 1000 free with Alina Fong grabbing first with her time of 10:41.06. Michelle Menezes finished second while Ruth Pappas took third with their times of 10:44.12 and 11:02.40, respectively.

For the men, John Kendrick swam neck and neck with Air Force’s Corydon Butler until he pulled ahead to touch in at 9:36.53 for the win. Butler finished second with 9:39.07.

In the 200 freestyle, freshman Angela Bennion tied for first with Air Force’s Erin Bleyl with a time of 1:54.22.

Air Force’s Leonhardt took first in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.08, while his teammate Tim Martinelli placed second with his time of 1:43.28. BYU’s McKay King grabbed third with 1:43.37.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Welch touched in with a first place time of 58.18. Air Force’s Samantha Laughlin finished second with 58.67 and Meagan Stone of BYU took third with 58.85.

Jake Taylor touched in a first for the men with a time of 49.54. Air Force placed second and third with times of 50.57 and 52.50, respectively.

Kassy Bispo placed first in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.88, while Taryn Toolson came in at second with 1:06.60. Aleesha Miller took third with her time of 1:08.00.

Deacon of Air Force took first for the men in the 100 breast, recording a time of 57.03. BYU’s Vytenis Slenys came in at second with 57.82 and Chad Sorenson at third with 58.59.

Jodie Ellis placed first in the 200 fly with her time of 2:08.66, while Air Force’s Haley Holcombe took second with 2:08.79.

The Falcons had a 1, 2, 3 sweep in the 200 fly with Eric Robinson taking first with his time of 1:55.37.

In the 50 free, Candice smith seized first place with a time of 24.59, while Air Force’s Cassie Fletcher came in at 24.81 for second.

Air Force’s Robert Dawson and Cole Smith tied for first in the 50 free with the first place time of 21.25.

Bennion tallied a first place win in the 100 free with a time of 52.93. Hannah Cesare of Air Force came in at 54.32 for second.

Air Force recorded another 1, 2, 3 sweep in the 100 free for the men, with Dawson grabbing the first place time at 46.96.

In the 200 backstroke, Erin Pabst finished first for BYU with a time of 2:04.98. Air Force’s Laughlin took second with her time of 2:06.56.

Jake Taylor tallied another first place win in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.73. Gunn from Air Force finished second behind Taylor with a time of 1:52.27.

In the 200 breaststroke, Ellis grabbed first with 2:25.62. Air Force’s Katrina Castellanos finished second with 2:25.71 while BYU’s Kelsey Higginson took third at 2:26.46.

Sorenson took first in the same event for the men’s team with his time of 2:07.56. Teammate Slenys finished behind him at 2:08.24 while Deacon of Air Force grabbed third at 2:08.41.

Erin Bleyl of Air Force took first in the 500 free with her time of 5:10.47, while Amy Xu and Alina Fong of BYU took second and third with times of 5:11.71 and 5:11.93.

In the same event, Air Force’s Butler finished first with 4:40.57 while Kendrick placed second at 4:45.99.

BYU gained a 1, 2, 3, sweep in the women’s 100 fly with Stone in first with 57.47, Dani Vaughn in second with 58.50 and Melissa Manser in third with 58.56.

In the same event, Leonhardt of Air Force captured first place for the men with 51.19, while BYU’s Jordan Fletcher took second at 51.23.

In the 200 IM, Marnie Knoop touched in at a first place time of 2:10.29, while Allie Dodds came in behind her at 2:12.46.

Jake Taylor finished with his third first place win of the night in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.82 while Slenys came in second behind him at 1:55.31.

In the last race of the night, the BYU women’s team of Grant, Toolson, Welch and Miller finished in first place with a time of 1:34.84 in the 200 free relay.

The men’s team of Keil, Geoff Jameson, Kendrick and Ryan Krause took first with a time of 1:24.23 to end the meet.

On the boards, the Cougars had a very successful night, taking first in every event. Dayna Christensen placed first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competition with her final scores of 276.90 and 307.20.

For the men, Brandon Watson also tallied a double win as he placed first in the 1-meter with a score of 345.08 and the 3-meter with 400.65 as his final score.

The Cougars will return to the Richards Building Pool on Saturday to face off with the Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls in the last home meet of the season. The first event will take place at 1 p.m.