BYU men down CMU, women edged out by UC Davis

PROVO, Utah – Payton Sorenson and Vanessa Moffatt led BYU as the men’s team marked a 149-131 victory over Colorado Mesa, with the women’s team dropping a close match against UC Davis 168-132 at the Richards Building Pool Saturday morning.

“We had a handful of swimmers from our women’s team that recorded lifetime best’s today,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “Vanessa did a really good job in the 500 and 1000 free events. On the men’s side, Payton Sorenson posted one of the top-15 times in the country with his 50 free. We had a lot of our men swimming in off-events, so they were able to learn some new things and that was very helpful for them.”

The BYU men swept the 200-yard medley relay, with a team of Rainer Ng, Stephen Richards, Jake Taylor and Payton Sorenson claiming first at 1:30.72, Preston Jenkins, Nate Henderson, Connor Stirling and Luis Ventura placing second with a 1:33.94 and Cameron Lindsay, Ryan Sorensen, Chad Sorensen and Kent Fellows earning third with a 1:36.18 finish.

In the women’s 1000 freestyle, Vanessa Moffatt and Emily Harris took first and second for the Cougars with finishes of 10:38.03 and 10:44.51 respectively. Dallin Johnson and McKay Palmer also placed first and second in the men’s event, with Johnson registering a 10:00.55 and Palmer clocking a 10:05.49.

Brenna Dickson took second in the women’s 200 free with a 1:55.36 finish, while Lauren Shaw Taylor took third with a 1:55.38. Ventura won the men’s event for BYU with a 1:43.05 finish, followed closely by Fellows who placed second in 1:46.05.

Ashlee Spindler finished the women’s 100 backstroke in 58.20, good enough for second-place. Samantha Lingenbrink took third in the event with a 59.04 finish. Ng won the men’s event with a 49.81 finish, followed closely in second by Jenkins at 50.95.

In the women’s 100 breaststroke, Riley Merrill took second-place for the Cougars in 1:07.24. Taylor won the men’s side of the event with a time of 57.08, while Henderson took third with a 58.51 finish.

The Cougars placed two swimmers in the women’s 200 butterfly, with Lillian Moore taking second in 2:07.57 and Moffatt finishing third with a 2:08.41. In the men’s side of the event, Nathan Rogers finished in 1:55.39 for first-place, with Ventura taking second in 1:55.49.

The Cougars swept the men’s 50 free with Sorenson sprinting to a 20.34 for first, Fellows finishing in 21.59 for second and Seth Russell earning third with a time of 21.62.

In the women’s 100 free, Ellie Thornbrue took second place with a 52.31 finish, while Brenna Dickson placed third in 52.57. The Cougars completed another sweep on the men’s side, with Taylor posting a 45.24 for first, Russell finishing second in 47.12 and David Harlan earning third with a 48.76.

Ng won the men’s 200 back event for the Cougars, posting a 1:52.23 finish, with Richards earning third-place in 1:59.58.

BYU swept the women’s 500 free, with Moffatt posting a 5:08.46 for first, Kelly Hatanaka earning second with a 5:08.77 finish and Zerlynn Tiang placing third in 5:15.72. Shawn Western finished the men’s event in 4:48.60, good enough for first. Dallin Johnson placed third with a 4:52.34.

BYU swept the men’s 100 fly, with Jenkins taking first in 51.83, Ryan Sorensen earning second with a 52.78 and Stirling placing third with a time of 52.92.

In the women’s 400 free relay, a team comprised of Thornbrue, Katie Smith, Alora Foliaki and Dickson won the race with a 3:30.94 finish. On the men’s side, Jenkins, Sorenson, Stirling and Taylor took first-place with a 3:04.57.

“I think our team calmed down and just took things one dive at a time,” BYU head diving coach Tyce Routson said. “The divers are focusing on the long-term goal and scores and they put together some great dives. Matt qualified on 1-meter and 3-meter for NCAA zones. Kevin also had another standout performance, so it was a very good meet.”

BYU swept the men’s 1-meter event with Matt Denkers posting a 341.25 for first-place, Kevin Dreesen scoring a 328.20 for second and Jordan Tuckfield diving to a third with a score of 296.80.

Ali Tippetts-Kottcamp won the women’s 3-meter dive with a score of 270.90. BYU completed another sweep on the men’s side with Dreesen posting a 407.15 for first, Denkers scoring a 320.75 to place second and Tuckfield earning a 314.45 for third.

The women’s team will take on Oregon State next Saturday, Nov. 7 in Corvallis, Oregon, at the Stevens Natatorium. The divers will follow that meet on Nov. 20-21 as they travel to the Arizona Diving Invite in Tucson, Arizona.