The long weekend meet for the Utah swim team turned out to be a huge success, as the men and women both finished in the top 10 at the Toshiba Classic, held in Long Beach, Calif., where many of the top swim teams in the country competed.
The Utes proved their worth in a national meet of this stature as the women finished ninth out of 25 teams with an overall score of 271, and the men finished fifth out of 14 with a score of 428.5.
After the first day of competition, the Utes let their presence be known as a handful of swimmers put up season-best times in the all-day event.
“The team had a good day,” said head coach Greg Winslow. “It was a long day, and there was a lot of competition. We had an athlete in almost every final heat in each event. It’s an honor, in this competitive climate, to make it back at night.”
The men had at least one swimmer in every final heat on the first day. The 200-free relay team of Bjorn Gunnarsson, Karson Applin, Eric Murray and Jordan Spoerri finished eighth with a time of 1 minute 25.61 seconds. The 200 IM contained a season high by John Baque, who finished 21st with his time of 1:54.56.
Coming into the weekend, Winslow expressed his excitement in his young swimmers. The stage was set for the underclassmen, and they were nothing less than spectacular after the first day. The final heat in the 500 free posted two freshmen swimmers for the Utes, as Bryan Michaels and Ryan Hansen finished 19th and 28th with times of 4:35.76 and 4:37.84, respectively.
The final event of day one of the Toshiba Classic was perhaps the most exciting, as the men’s 400 medley relay team finished fifth with a time of 3:23.84 seconds. The relay team was made up of Major Robinson, Baque, Applin and Gunnarsson, all of whom had competed in at least one heat prior to the race.
“I was really impressed by our men’s 400 medley relay team,” Winslow said. “They came out strong after a long day and had the second-fastest time for the Mountain West Conference teams.”
On the women’s side, junior Natalie Edge took the honor of the highest-placing individual athlete on the day for the Utes. Edge finished 16th overall in the 50 free with her time of 23.68 seconds. Junior Kristina Evans also qualified for the final heat of this event and finished with the respectable time of 24.10 seconds.
The rest of the meet went in similar fashion for the Utes, as they had five swimmers qualify for the final heat in the 200 breast. Among the five was senior John Baque, who finished sixth8212;the highest finish for the meet by a Utah swimmer8212;with a time of 2:3.92.
The performance by the team as a whole was deemed a success, and the Utes look forward to their season continuing Jan. 9, when they take on TCU in a crucial Mountain West Conference clash.