Over the weekend, the women’s swim and dive team took on Washington State at the Ute Natatorium. Though it was a celebration of Senior Day for the Utes, they did not have the chance to celebrate a victory against the Cougars, as they fell 149-145.
“This was a very competitive dual meet from start to finish,” said head coach Joe Dykstra. “We won a couple of really close swims in the first relay and few dual races throughout the meet. It was close and competitive all the way through. Unfortunately, we came up on the short end on too many of those close races. I told the team that they swam okay, but they had to want to finish those races through the last turn and the finish, and we were not sharp or aggressive enough doing that today.”
The women started the meet with a bang, taking first in the 200-yard medley relay (1:43.72) with the team including sophomore Megan Kawaguchi, freshman Genevieve Robertson, sophomore Jenna Marsh and freshman Gillian St. John.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, sophomore Kat Wickham managed to snag second from WSU, touching in at a 10:38.53. Another second-place finish went to Kawaguchi in the 100-yard backstroke (56.68), while sophomore Dorien Butter was just barely out-touched in the 200-yard freestyle, taking third with a 1:52.98.
Utah managed to take 1-2-3 in the 100-yard breaststroke, with close finishes as junior Stina Colleou took first (1:04.43), junior Brianna Francis took second (1:04.67) and Robertson took third (1:04.93).
In a close race during the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Jordan Anderson was just out-touched for second place, taking third behind WSU with a 2:06.95.
In the 100-yard free, St. John and Butter both touched in at the same time (52.01), tying for first in the event. Sophomore Hailey Pabst swam the 200-yard backstroke, scoring in the top-five as well and taking third (2:07.84).
Robertson (2:17.35) and Colleou (2:18.10) took to the pool again in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching first and second, respectively. In the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM, Marsh and Francis finished with second-places, Marsh with a 56.23 and Francis with a 2:05.16.
For the last event, Utah ended its meet just like it started, with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:28.17) with the team of junior Rhianna Williams, St. John and freshmen Darby Wayner and Butter.
In women’s diving, the team took first competing in the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Lauren Hall took first in both events (262.42, 272.02), with Madison Cock taking second in the one-meter (258.07), Makenzie Caufield taking third in the one-meter and second in the three-meter (251.40, 269.25) and Olivia Payne taking third in the three-meter (236.55).
Up next, the Utes will be heading to Federal Way, Wash. for the Pac-12 Championships later this month (Feb. 24-17).
“I would like to win, but the goal is to qualify as many people as possible for NCAA’s as we can,” Dykstra said. “That has always been the goal, but I would also like to get some school records. Most importantly, though, we would like to get a bunch of national qualifiers.”
Next week, the men’s team will be hosting its last dual meet of the season, competing against USC. This will also be Utah’s Senior Day at the Ute Natatorium.
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