The Utah women’s swimming team traveled to Corvallis, Oregon on Wednesday, Jan. 6, to compete against the Oregon State Beavers for its first Pac-12 meet of the season and got the win 143-116.
Before the meet, head coach Joe Dykstra was unsure of whether his team would be prepared, but he still had confidence in every one of his swimmers.
“We get the opportunity to race a conference opponent on the road this week, which is always tough,” Dykstra said before the meet. “We will not be at full strength and are extremely tired from our ongoing winter training camp, so I am excited to challenge our team to overcome these ‘excuses’ and find a way to win.”
Freshmen Genevieve Robertson won two events for the Utes, taking first in the 100- (1:04.44) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.68) at the Osborn Aquatic Center. Robertson also took part in the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:46.44) team that included sophomores Shayla Archer and Jenna Marsh and fellow freshman Darby Wayner.
Marsh and Wayner also won individual events during the meet, as Marsh captured the 100-yard butterfly (57.28) and Wayner took first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.34).
Other wins of the night included Isabella Kearns winning the 200-yard butterfly (2:05.30), Gillian St. John taking the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle (52.14), Brianna Francis winning the 200-yard IM (2:05.02), and Hailey Pabst capturing the 200-yard backstroke (2:07.94).
In addition to those first-place wins, six Ute swimmers earned two top-five finishes during the meet. This included Maudee Miner (100- and 500-yard freestyle), Paolina Carnevale (1000-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly), Maryssa McArthur (200- and 500-yard freestyle), Jenna Griffith (100- and 200-yard backstroke), Petra Soininen (100- and 200-yard butterfly) and Rhianna Williams (50- and 100-yard freestyle).
Up next for the women’s team, they will be hosting a back-to-back, two-day meet against Boise State and UCLA at the Ute Natatorium (Jan. 15-16). The first event of the meet is set to begin at 6 pm MT.
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