Cougars Split Win Against Rebels

PROVO, Utah – The Cougars went head to head with the Rebels of UNLV Friday night and came out with a split win as the BYU women took first at 186-114 and the men came in second at 176-118.

“I thought our girls swam really well tonight and dominated every race they won,” BYU head coach Tim Powers said. “Our sprinters also did well, but UNLV had better legs and came off the walls fast and finished stronger than we did. It was good to face some tough competition and be able to see what we need to work on now to be ready when we see them again at conference championships.”

The first event of the night was the women’s 200 medley relay where the team of Hailey Campbell, Kassandra Bispo, Kim Welch and Taryn Toolson took first with a time of 1:45.12.

The men swam next for the same event, but came up a couple seconds short of UNLV’s time of 1:30.99.

Next up was the 1000 free where Allie Dodds came in at a close second to UNLV’s Jessica Heim with a time of 10:38.69. For the men, UNLV’s Joe Riggert took first with at time of 9:49.72.

The women’s 200 free went to the Cougars as freshman Alia Welsh touched in at 1:54.76 for first place. For the men, Stott Bushnell kept it close as he came in at second with 1:41.90, while UNLV’s Giacomo Gremizzi outreached him with a time of 1:41.73.

For the 100 backstroke, Campbell was able to gain the first place win by finishing with a time of 56.75.

Londyn Clawson recorded the first-place win for the Cougars with her time of 1:07.00 in the 100 breaststroke.

The BYU women obtained a 1, 2, 3 sweep in the 200 butterfly with Welch in first at 2:06.89, Melissa Manser in second with 2:09.121 and Marnie Knoop in third with 2:09.84. For the men, David Armstrong grabbed the second-place finish with his time of 1:56.10 in the same event.

Toolson recorded the first-place finish for the Cougars in the women’s 50 free with her time of 23.81. For the men’s heat, Garrett Beaman came in a close second with his time of 21.09.

Across the deck in the women’s 1-meter, Mikenna Cloward took first with a score if 267.75, while Syrena Miskin grabbed a second place score of 270.75 in the 3-meter.

Travis Day recorded the first place win for the 3-meter and 1-meter with his scores of 337.80 and 322.50.

After a quick diving break, Toolson grabbed a first place time of 52.38 in the 100 free. In the same event, Beaman reached second place with a time of 46.46.

Candice Smith took first in the 200 back with a time of 2:04.61, while teammate Erin Pabst came in behind her at 2:05.74.

Clawson swam for a close second in the 200 breaststroke, touching in at 2:23.13 behind UNLV’s Marley Prothero’s time of 2:22.31.

Welsh touched in at 5:06.56 for the second-place finish in the 500 free behind UNLV’s Heim and her time of 5:06.08. Chad Fong recorded a time of 4:47.94 in the men’s heat to earn him second place as well.

In the 100 butterfly, Welch finished first with her time of 56.47 while Jordan Fletcher touched in at second in the men’s heat with a time of 50.10.

For the 200 IM, Clawson reached another second-place finish with a time of 2:10.90, while Rafael Alfaro grabbed second place as well with his time of 1:57.99 for the men’s heat.

The final event of the evening was the 400 free relay where the BYU women placed first with the team consisting of Campbell, Welch, Smith and Toolson, recording a time of 3:30.98. The men’s team of Bushnell, Daniel Bates, Beaman and Ryan Krause came in a close second with their time of 3:04.65 for the men’s heat of the 400 free relay.

Next up, the Cougars will travel to California to compete in the Arena Invitational Nov. 17-18.