Cougar swimmers fall short against No. 18 UCLA, UC Santa Barbara

BYU vs. No. 18 UCLA, UC Santa Barbara double-dual meet results.

Santa Barbara, Calif. – The BYU women’s swim team came up short in their first double-dual meet of the season against No. 18 UCLA 171.00-87.00 and UC Santa Barbara 164.00-98.00 in Santa Barbara, California, Saturday afternoon.

“We had some decent swims,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We’re a really young team, and we need to continue to learn how to race at a collegiate level. UCLA swam the best I’ve seen them, and UC Santa Barbara is a really good team.”

The 200-yard medley relay team started the meet with a 5th-place finish. The team of Ciera Marsh Keller, Anna Dahl, Haley Bertoldo and Alora Foliaki touched the wall in 1:48.23.

Vanessa Moffatt followed with a 3rd-place finish in the grueling 1,000 freestyle race with a time of 10:22.01. Emily Harris recorded a 7th-place finish in 10:45.22.

Bertoldo finished second in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 57.68. Ashlee Spindler came in just behind Bertoldo with a time of 58.79 to finish sixth and Keller just behind her for a 7th-place finish in 59.23.

Moffatt followed up her top-3 1,000 free performance with a 4th-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.72. Her teammate Lillian Moore came in just behind her finishing fifth, recording a time of 2:10.11.

Foliaki finished the 50 free in 24.56, good enough for a 6th-place finish. Alexandria Sorensen finished 10^th with a time of 25.44.

Foliaki turned right around in the next event and finished the 100 free with a time of 53.10 and a finish in fifth place. Alyssa Penney finished behind her, touching the wall in 55.98 and finishing eighth.

The Cougars finished third, fourth and fifth place in the 200 back. Keller touched the wall in 2:06.10, Bertoldo came in just behind her with a time of 2:06.29, and Spindler finished in 2:07.67.

Moffatt continued her strong afternoon with a 2nd-place finish in the 500 free. The true freshman touched the wall with a time of 5:09.08. Harris finished fifth with a time of 5:14.27. Brenna Dickson came in just behind her finishing the event in 5:19.12.

Bertoldo and Moore put in strong showings in the 100 fly for BYU. Bertoldo finished third, touching the wall in 57.87, and Moore earned a 4th-place finish while recording a time of 58.95.

Kerra Bispo finished fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.55.

BYU’s 400 free relay teams finished third and fourth behind UC Santa Barbara. The team made up of Harris, Spindler, Keller and Moffatt recorded a time of 3:37.14 to finish third. Dickson, Sydney Dahl, Lauren Shaw Taylor and Foliaki finished just behind their teammates in 3:37.36.

Up next for the men and women is UNLV Saturday Nov. 8 at noon in Las Vegas at the Buchanan Natatorium.