Seniors See Success In Last Home Meet

PROVO -- In the last home meet of the 2010-2011 season, the BYU Cougars showed their true strength as they defeated the Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls.

"Both teams swam really well today and we some some great times posted," BYU head coach Tim Powers said. "We knew Wyoming was going to bring a good team, but we were ready. Winning those close races really makes a difference. Wyoming actually just beat Utah last night, so that makes this win an even bigger deal for us."

The meet began with the 200 medley relay where the BYU women’s team of Candice Smith, senior captain Sara Jayne Baldwin, Kim Welch and senior captain Aleesha Miller took first place at 1:44.71 with Wyoming right behind them at 1:45.84.

The men’s race was a similar story with the team of Jake Taylor, Vytenis Slenys, Ryan Krause and Christian Keil taking first with a time of 1:31.62. Wyoming came in a close second with 1:32.18.

The next event was a close race from the beginning as Allie Dodds came in second in the 1000 free behind Wyoming’s Lizzie Justice. Dodd’s time was 10:32.54 while Justice’s time was 10:32.03.

Jayce Calhoon of Wyoming pulled ahead for the first place win in the men’s 1000 free with a time of 9:46.23, while BYU’s Dallin Johnson finished behind him at 9:49.50 for second place.

In the women’s 200 free, senior Rachel Grant took the first place win by a long shot with her time of 1:50.62, while Wyoming’s Paige Fischer came in at 1:54.21 for second. Senior Michelle Menezes touched in for third with 1:54.77.

In the men’s race, senior captain John Kendrick recorded the first place time of 1:40.96, while Wyoming’s Ethan Giffel came up at 1:41.14 for a close second.

In the next event, Cowgirl Kelsey Conci finished first with 55.90 in the 100 backstroke, while Smith and Meagan Stone took second and third with times of 56.93 and 59.47, respectively.

Jake Taylor took first in the same event with a time of 49.17, with Wyoming’s Marshall Dilworth following him for second at 51.37.

In the 100 breast, BYU tallied a 1, 2, 3 sweep with Kassy Bispo taking the first place win with her time of 1:04.53. Londyn Clawson touched in at 1:04.69 and senior captain Sara Jayne Baldwin finished at third with 1:05.09.

Chad Sorenson got the first place win for the Cougs in the 100 breast with a time of 57.08. Wyoming’s Nate Ladner came in a close second with 57.11, followed by Vytenis Slenys at 57.79.

In the 200 butterfly, the Cougar women gained their second 1, 2, 3, sweep with Grant seizing first at 2:00.29, Welch grabbing second at 2:05.51 and Marnie Knoop taking third at 2:06.80.

For the men, Wyoming’s Tyler Kybartas came in at 1:54.12 for the first place finish while teammate Trevor Levalley finished behind him at 1:55.91 for second and BYU’s Rafael Alfaro took third with his time of 1:56.59.

Senior captain Aleesha Miller touched in at first for the Cougars in the 50 free with a time of 23.98, while Taryn Toolson came in at 23.98 for second place.

In an extremely close race, Jeff Fray of Wyoming grabbed first in the 50 free with a time of 21.19, barely ahead of senior captain Christian Keil. Keil touched in at 21.22, while Jordan Fletcher came in at 21.37 for third.

After a 15 minute break, the women returned for 100 free with Conci of Wyoming touching in for first at 51.79. Toolson and Baldwin came in second and third with times of 52.47 and 52.60, respectively.

Keil grabbed first in the 100 free with a time of 46.41, while Frey and Griffel of Wyoming came in behind him for second and third with times of 46.61 and 46.67.

Smith reached the first place time of 2:02.40 in the women’s 200 back, followed by Toolson with 2:05.61 for second and Baldwin with 2:05.68 for third.

In the men’s race, Taylor recorded the first place time of 1:49.23 with Wyoming’s Calhoon trailing him for second at 1:52.73. Stephen Richards of BYU gained the third place win with his time of 1:52.74.

Clawson took first in the 200 breast with her time of 2:19.52. Wyoming’s Lesley Young and Lauren Hewson followed for second and third with times of 2:23.31 and 2:24.54, respectively.

Brandon Fischer of the Cowboys placed first in the 200 breast with his time of 2:06.25, while Sorenson and Alfaro followed for second and third with times of 2:06.44 and 2:09.36.

Wyoming’s Stephanie Vint and Paige Fischer touched in for first and second in the 500 free, while BYU’s Allie Dodds grabbed third with her time of 5:08.10.

In the men’s race, Wyoming’s Tyler Kytarbas placed first with 4:39.37, while his teammate Griffel took second with 4:40.88. BYU’s Kendrick touched in for third with his time of 4:43.18.

Welch recorded the first place time of 56.58 in the 100 fly, while Cowgirl Shelby Bull came in at 57.05 for second. BYU’s Dani Vaughn grabbed third at 57.77.

The men tallied their first 1, 2, 3, sweep of the afternoon with Fletcher touching in at 50.51, McKay King taking second at 51.51 and Ryan Krause placing third with 52.10.

Grant took first place in the 200 IM by a large lead as she touched in at 2:03.48, followed by Vint and Young of Wyoming at 2:09.51 and 2:10.41.

The 200 IM gave way to yet another 1, 2, 3 sweep for the men as Taylor touched in at 1:52.67 for the first place win while Stephen Richards took second with 1:56.33 and Vytenis Slenys grabbed third with 1:56.80.

In the last home race of the season, the BYU women’s team of Toolson, Grant, Baldwin and Miller finished first in the 400 free relay with their time of 3:36.82. Wyoming gained the second place win, however another BYU team of Angela Bennion, Dodds, Smith and senior Sam Crist grabbed third with a time of 3:34.39.

The BYU men’s team of Keil, Danny Bates, Kendrick and Ryan Krause ended the night strong gaining the first place win with their time of 3:05.68.

Seniors who competed for their last time in the Richards Building Pool included Rachel Grant, Aleesha Miller, Michelle Menezes, Sara Jayne Baldwin, Sam Crist, Christan Keil, Vytenis Slenys and John Kendrick.

Across the deck, Brandon Watson had another successful night on the boards as he won first p lace in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competition with his scores of 363.15 and 369.38.

Dayna Christensen won the women’s 1-meter with a score of 279.23 and took second in the 3-meter with a score of 236.03 behind Wyoming’s Allie Smith.

The BYU swim team’s next competition will take them to Fort Worth, Texas as they face off with both the University of New Mexico and Texas Christian University. The meet will take place on Friday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m.