Men in first, women in third heading into final day of MPSF Championships

ST. GEORGE, Utah / MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — After another full day of events, the men's swim and dive team surged into first place over UC Santa Barbara with a total of 531 points on the week, while the women remained steady in third place with a total of 390 points, trailing Hawaii and UC San Diego as the teams head into the fourth and final day of the MPSF Championships. 

Diving

In the women's 1-meter prelim event, all four Cougar divers ultimately qualified for the finals, as each diver finished in the top eight. Alexia Jackson finished first overall in the prelim with a 292.35, while Brooklyn Larson placed third with a 276.75, Sophia DeBergh placed fourth with a 261.35 and Hailey Johnson placed eighth after posting a 250.95. 

In the final round, it was Jackson who claimed the highest finish for the Cougars, posting a second place 295.20. Larson placed fourth with a 273.70, with Johnson placing sixth with a 262.85 and DeBergh placing seventh with a 237.45. 

Friday also featured the men's 3-meter event, with four BYU divers qualifying from the prelim round for the finals as well. In the prelim, it was Mickey Strauss coming in first with a 385.40, Chase Hindmarsh placing fourth after a 330.45, Carter Davis scoring a 299.75 for fifth and Cody Dreesen posting a 285.60 for seventh. Nathan Marshall also competed in the event, narrowly missing the finals cut, coming in at ninth with a 277.25. 

In the finals, all four qualifying BYU divers finished 3-4-5-6. Strauss posted the highest score among the Cougar divers with a third place 356.30. It was Hindmarsh coming in fourth with a 293.20, Dreesen coming in fifth with a 291.75 and Davis coming in sixth with a 274.75. 

The BYU divers will look to cap off a great week of performances tomorrow as both teams will prepare to compete in the platform event.

Swimming

The men's swim team set yet another school record this week, this time coming in the 400-yard medley relay, as a team of Diego Camacho, Josue Dominguez, Javier Nicolas Matta and Luigi Riva swam first place 3:08.42. 

Other notable achievements from the men's swim team came in the form of nine top-eight finishes. The highlight of the day came in the 100-yard breaststroke, as the Cougars finished 1-2-3 in the event. Brad Prolo finished with the highest individual place on the day, as he swam a first place 52.67, while Evan VanderSluis swam a second place 52.88 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Dominguez narrowly placed third in the event as well, swimming a 52.98. 

In the 200-yard freestyle, Riva followed up Thursday's solid performance with a sixth place 1:37.75. Tama Tuitama also competed in the 400-yard IM event, swimming a fourth place 3:51.31. 

The 100-yard butterfly event saw Matta swim a swift 46.52 to capture a first place finish, while Tony Puertas finished with a second place 47.47. The final top eight finish on the day came from Andrew Eliason in the 100-yard backstroke, as he swam a seventh place 48.73. 

The women's team had another solid day of individual performances to keep them in contention for a first place finish heading into the final day of events at the Human Performance Center. Overall, the women had seven individual top-8 finishes. 

In the 100-yard butterfly event, Emma Marusakova swam a 54.59, good for a sixth place finish. Marusakova also participated in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming a seventh place 55.36. 

The Cougars had two top-8 finishers in the 100-yard breaststroke, as Mackenzie Miller swam a 1:02.32 to come in sixth place, while Abi Furqueron swam a 1:02.39 for a seventh place finish. 

The 200-yard freestyle saw Regan Geldmacher finish with a top-3 finish, coming in third with a 1:48.57. Sofia Pusceddu followed that up by competing in the 400-yard IM, swimming a fifth place 4:22.11, while Addison Richards swam a 4:23.54 for a sixth place finish in the event. 

The final day of the MPSF Championships will take place tomorrow, as the swimmers will begin competition at 10 a.m. MDT while the divers will begin at 10 a.m. PDT. A live stream of the meets can be purchased on a pay-per-view option found at mpsports.org. Event results can also be followed on the BYU Swim and Dive social media pages on Instagram and Twitter.