On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the University of Utah women’s swimming team embarked on a trip to Federal Way, Wash. to compete in the 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming Championship. The championship took place over a course of four days, and at the end of the Pac-12 Championships, the Utes placed seventh overall.
“We were solid,” head coach Joe Dykstra said. “We struggled in a few areas during the Pac-12 Women’s Swimming Championship. We had the best day competing on Saturday.”
Utah finished with a total of 484 points, and it ranked above Washington State and Oregon State. Stanford finished in first and Cal placed second.
The competition began with two swimming events on the first day — the 200 medley and the 800-free quartet.
The fantastic four and top performers for the women’s 200 medley relay, Genevieve Robertson, Shayla Archer, Kristine Pataray and Gillian St. John came in seventh place. Their time of 1:38.95 would be their best mark of the season.
During the 800-free quartet Sarah Lott, Dorien Butter, Jordan Anderson and Hailey Pabst took a total of 17 seconds off of their top time of the season at 7:15.51 which would land them in eighth place.
Thursday’s event was full of talent. During the final event of the evening Dorien Butter, Gillian St. John, and Jenna Marsh and Tadena finished eighth during the 200 free relay with a time of 1.31.66 which was the fastest time of the season.
Butter also became Utah’s top finisher in the 50 free, coming in at a time of 23.09 which was a personal best for her.
Friday’s competition was a solid day for the sophomores and freshmen. Sophomore Jordan Anderson set a new Utah school record when she won the “C” final of the 400 IM with a time of 4:12.02.
“Our two breaststrokers, Genevieve Robertson and Stina Colleou, really shined during the Pac-12 Championship,” Dykstra said. “Both of them made the ‘A’ final by placing in sixth and eighth place. Both times can qualify for the NCAA Championship. Some freshmen also had some awesome performances that really stood out over the weekend.”
Robertson swam a new personal record with a time of 1:01.13 in the 100 breaststroke where she is the third-fastest in Utah school history. Senior Stina Colleou touched the wall at 1:01.41 during prelims where she qualified for “B” finals, and she took 16th place.
Freshman Cassidy Stein finished in 15th place during prelims after swimming a 4:15.25 which would qualify her for “B” finals. Freshman McKenna Gassaway competed in the “C” final with a time of 1:02.33. Gassaway moved up to the sixth all-time for Utah during that event.
Coming up next for the Utes is the Pac-12 Men’s Swimming Championships that start on March 1.
“We have a very young group on the men’s side,” Dykstra said. “We are going to look for some to step up and have a great performance during the Pac-12 Swimming Championship.”
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