The University of Utah women’s swim and dive team came together with a commanding home victory over the Washington State Cougars on Friday, Jan. 20 at the Ute Natatorium. Led by a hat-trick of victories from Ute senior Summer Stanfield, the program achieved its fourth meet win of the season with a dominant score of 156-99.

Stanfield’s first individual race win came in the 200 free where she swam a time of 1:52.04. The win came as a result of consistent swimming that provided steady 28-second splits in each of the final three 50-yard segments. In fact, Stanfield was the only swimmer in the race that managed to swim their final 50 yards in under 29 seconds. 

The second of Stanfield’s three wins came later in the 100 fly. An opening 26.82 second split left no room for catch-up as the 21-year-old senior claimed the title with a final time of 56.28. The Florida native’s final top finish came one event later in the 200 IM where she swam a time of 2:04.58. Stanfield’s 200 IM win was especially dominant due to the race occurring only one event after her powerful 100-fly finish. 

Stanfield’s amazing performance against Washington State marked the fifth time in the 2022-2023 season that she finished with multiple wins.

The meet also signified the third time in the swimmer’s collegiate career that she has won three individual events, the first against Tulane during the 2019-2020 season, and the second against rival BYU in the 2021-2022 season.

As for the rest of the team, the meet started off strong for the Utes with a great performance in the 400 medley relay. Led by Norah Hay, Erin Palmer, Reagan Cathcart and Stanfield, the medley team claimed victory with a time of 3:45.97 to start things off. Next came a 100 backstroke victory by freshman Lily Milner with a time of 56.04. Shortly after, freshman Hilja Schimmel from Sweden also managed her own first-place finish with a time of 1:03.91 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“I think we competed really well,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “It was nice to see the women’s team be really excited, really want to win and getting after it. It’s nice to see that competitive edge and aggressiveness in the meet. I’m happy that we’re able to step up in every meet and do well. It’s really promising for the conference meet and it’s promising for next weekend against the team down south.”

Wins continued raining down for the Utes as fifth-year swimmer Katie Hale claimed the home team’s fifth victory with a 23.35 second effort in the 50 free. Two final race wins came from swimmers Maddie Woznick and Krystal Lieu. Woznick won the day’s 100 free race with a time of 52.20 seconds, and Lieu claimed the title in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.54. 

To further illustrate the overwhelming dominance of the Utes’ day, there were five events in which Utah swimmers occupied all three podium spots. 

The women’s dive team also competed well. Both Lizzy DeCecco and Lexi Mills put up scores that reached the NCAA Championship qualifying mark for the 1m and 3m. In the 3m, both divers finished relatively close within .2 points of each other. DeCecco finished with a final score of 287.90 while Mills posted a final score of 287.70.

Spirits are high and we’ll get back to work tomorrow and we’re looking forward to the next five weeks of the season,” said head coach Jonas Persson in response to his team’s great showing. 

Looking forward, the Utah men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against BYU on Jan. 27 and 28. The dual meet will mark the final home meet of the season for the Utes. 

Additionally, the final day of the BYU dual meet, Jan. 28, will serve as the team’s senior day.

[email protected]

@AustinEames55