Women Return From NCAA's, Men Head Out

PROVO, Utah -- Seniors Rachel Grant and Sara Jayne Baldwin returned from a weekend in Austin, Texas, competing in the women’s NCAA’s.

“This was Rachel’s highest finish in the 200 fly,” said BYU head coach Tim Powers. “She’s a nighttime swimmer, meaning she consistently gets her best times in the evening. But, she swam the 200 fly in the morning and placed higher this year than she did last year.

“Sara Jayne pushed herself but swam too fast on the backstroke leg in of her 200 IM and wore her legs out. She swam well for her first time at NCAA’s and it was a great experience for her.”

In the 200 butterfly, Grant recorded a time of 1:57.41, earning her 18th in the preliminaries. She also placed 27th in the prelims of the 400 IM, touching in at 4:14.37.

In the 200 IM, both Grant and Baldwin competed. Grant received 36th in the prelims with her time of 2:00.42, while Baldwin obtained a 52nd place finish in the prelims with her time of 2:02.22.

Next up for the Cougar swim team are the men’s NCAA’s this weekend. Swimmers from BYU who will attend include freshman Jake Taylor and Junior Brandon Watson. Taylor will compete in the 200 IM, 100 back and 200 back, which means he will compete Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“If Jake competes like he did at conference, he’ll do really well,” said Powers. “Right now we’re just focusing on preparing him for this meet because it’s definitely a new experience for him to be competing in the fastest meet he’s ever competed in.”

Watson will compete in both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Watson competed through a herniated disc in his back during conference and is continuing to heal and prepare for NCAA’s.

The men’s NCAA’s will take place in Minneapolis on March 24-26.

For the results of the men’s NCAA’s, check back HERE.