Utah swimming and diving hosted Arizona State (Oct. 21) and Arizona (Oct. 22) in back-to-back dual meets this weekend at Ute Natatorium. Unfortunately, both the men’s and women’s team fell short to the Arizona teams.
Though they lost, Friday night saw close scores for the Utes on both the men’s and women’s side. The men fell to a final score of 168-132 while the women finished 159.5-138.5. Head coach Joe Dykstra credited injuries for the women and a slow start for the men.
While the final result was against the Utes, they were able to win in 13 individual races including the women’s 200-yard medley relay, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard fly and 100-yard fly. On the men’s side, junior Jack Burton took the 100- and 200-yard breast while freshman Rahiti De Vos took top honors in the 500-yard free and senior Nolan Rogers won the 400-yard IM.
Whether it was fatigue or simply stiffer competition, Saturday’s meet against Arizona saw the women fall 171-119 while the men lost a nail-biter 156-142.
“Both Arizona and Arizona State are really great teams — both nationally ranked,” Burton said. “If this hadn’t been a back-to-back dual meet, we probably could have beaten Arizona today.”
Saturday saw many of the same winners for the Utes as Friday. Senior Stina Colleou took first in the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:19.5 and sophomore Darby Wayner captured the 200-yard IM with a 2:09.11 finish. One notable victory for a women’s side without a lot to cheer about was the 200-yard free relay. The team included junior Dorien Butter, senior Kristine Pataray, sophomore Gillian St. John and junior Jenna Marsh finished with a time of 1:35.08.
Burton added that what his team needs to do now is to rest up and keep the enthusiasm going.
“Of course it’s hard to lose a close meet,” Dykstra said. “But we saw some sloppy swimming from both teams today, and it’s because of the rigorous training we’re putting them through right now.”
Up next, the Utes are back in action Friday, Nov. 4, as the team heads to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete against UNLV.
“This is no time to rest going into UNLV,” Dykstra said. “We are going to stick heavy to the grind for the next three to four weeks and then back off before the Ohio State Invitational. Right now, training is as important as competition. As we get farther into the season these competitions will start to become more and more important. Right now, it’s about team building and being able to practice what we work on in training.”
The meet is set to begin at 6:00 p.m.