The first meet against USC ended with a score of 119-91 while the meet against UCLA ended with a final score of 157-134.
“I think you have to give a lot of credit where credit is due,” said Utes’ head coach Joe Dykstra. “USC is going to challenge for the NCAA title, and UCLA has the best team they’ve had in years. They are just a step ahead of us right now. It’s a good measuring stick.”
After winning a majority of its events against ASU, Utah was only able to capture four event wins against USC — Amanda Barrett in the 200-yard backstroke, Selin Ozturk in the 500-yard freestyle, Stina Colleou in the 200-yard breaststroke and Traycie Swartz, Petra Soininen, Nicole Ligeza and Guilliana Gigliotti in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Although wins were hard to come by, the Utes did place multiple swimmers in the top three of their respective events. Brianna Francis mustered a third-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley as well as a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Kylie Boyce nabbed a third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
On the diving side, the Utes placed two divers, as Kersten Merry and Haley Blount finished in second and third place respectively in the 1-meter dive.
The next day, Utah returned to the water to take on UCLA but saw much of the same result. The Utes were once again only able to win four events.
Colleou won both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.18) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:16.67) while Barrett captured a win in the 400-yard individual medley, making that her second individual win of the weekend.
“We have a young team,” Dykstra said. “It’s my job to help build up their confidence. We’ve got to get them to believe in themselves. We have to make sure they have the confidence to race with [USC and UCLA].”
Dykstra also sees the meets against the Trojans and Bruins as good ways to measure up against the finest competition the Pac-12 has to offer. If Utah would have pulled out a win over the weekend, Dykstra believes it would have been an upset as well as a look into the future for his team. He is pushing the Utes to compete on the same level as those schools but also recognizes there is still work to be done.
“Both of those programs are somewhere we aspire to get with the girls’ team,” Dykstra said. “Our girls are experiencing a heavy level of fatigue. We need to be fatigued. We went against two outstanding teams. I thought we competed well, especially at UCLA.”
Utah has this weekend off before traveling to BYU on Jan. 24 to take on its rival. While beating the Cougars is important, Dykstra is putting more emphasis on the big picture — namely, the Pac-12 Championships.
“I mean, it’s always more important because it is our rival here in state,” Dykstra said. “But that being said, we won’t do anything to disrupt our bigger goal.”