2015-16 Swimming & Diving Season Recap

4/26/2016 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

April 26, 2016

MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
The Utah men's swimming and diving team finished the 2015-16 season with three athletes competing in the NCAA Championships, four new school records and 23 NCAA B standard times.

2016 NCAA Men's Championships
Senior Bence Kiraly along with divers Josiah Purss and Jacob Crayne competed at the NCAA Championships. Kiraly finished 12th during the prelims in the 500 free with a time of 4:15.77, just two-hundredths of a second off his time at the Pac-12 Championships. In the finals, he placed 14th overall with a time of 4:16.74.

Kiraly also placed 30th in the 200 free with a time of 1:35.45. His best time this season,1:34.65 was .41 seconds off of the school record and ranked seventh in the Pac-12 this year. Kiraly placed 17th in the 1,650 free. He finished with a time of 15:01.79. He had one win in the 1,650 free this season and 16 total wins in eight different events

Purss advanced in the one-meter diving event with a score of 357.95, which placed him 12th. In the finals, he took 11th with a score of 357.95. Crayne was also involved in the one-meter event with a score of 295.20 in the prelims.

in the three-meter event, Purss placed 22nd with a score of 355.95 and Crayne was right behind him with a total of 355.20. The Ute duo had the top scores of any Pac-12 competitors in the event. Purss, a junior, took second in the three-meter at NCAA Zones and fourth at the Pac-12 Championships. He currently holds the school record of 453.75 in the event which he set on Jan. 23 against BYU. Crayne, a senior, won the three-meter at NCAA Zones.

Crayne took 38th on the platform with a final score of 286.35. The Utah senior finished fifth on the platform at this year's Pac-12 Championships and was 11th at NCAA Zones with a score of 647.05 points. He is the current school record holder in the event with a total score of 376.05, which was set at the UCLA Invitational earlier this year.

2016 Men's Pac-12 Championships
The squad took sixth with a total score of 295. Two new school records were recorded during the three day competition. Sophomore Paul Unger set the record in the 100 back with a time of 47.18, which was set inn timed trials for the 100 back. The previous school record was 47.54, set by Unger earlier this year at the Art Adamson Invitational.

Senior Kristian Kron set the record in the 400 IM (3:45.77). In the "B" finals for the 400 IM, Kron bested his own mark that he set earlier this season at the Art Adamson Invitational (3:46.77). He finished with 17 top-five finishes this season.

Kiraly took fourth in the "A" finals for the 500 free touching in at 4:15.75, an NCAA B standard time. Also taking fourth for the Utes was dive Purss in the three-meter tallying a total score of 357.85.

Purss also stepped on the podium for the Utes. He took third on the one-meter event with a total score of 385.50. Crayne took fifth (367.10) with Connor Cain in 11th (282.55).

WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
The women's swimming and diving team sent three to the NCAA Championships, recorded three new school records and had nine NCAA B standard times.

2016 NCAA Women's Championships
Juniors Stina Colleou and Amanda Casillas, as well as freshman Genevieve Robertson represented the Utes. Colleou and Robertson swam in the 100 and 200 breast. Casillas qualified on the three meter as well as the platform event. This was Casillas and Robertson's first appearance at NCAA's, while this was Colleou's third.

In the 100 breast, Colleou finished 41st with a time of 1:01.31. Robertson took 47th with a time of 1:01.78. Colleou was 25th in the 200 breast with a time of 2:10. 36. She finished fourth among Pac-12 swimmers in the event. Robertson, who had recorded three wins in the 200 breast this season, placed 34th with a time of 2:11.79.

Casillas was 44th on the three-meter event tallying a score of 261.50. She finished seventh among Pac-12 divers in the event. The junior placed 12th in this three-meter event at NCAA Zones. She was 27th on the platform with a score of 224.15. She had the seventh-best score among the other Pac-12 divers.

2016 Women's Pac-12 Championships
The team finished sixth overall, tallying 538.5 points. Highlights from the Championships include a new school record in the 200 back and the 400 IM as well as in the 200 medley relay.

In the 200 medley relay, the team of Megan Kawaguchi, Genevieve Robertson, Jenna Marsh and Gillian St. John finished with a time of 1:38.61, breaking the previous school record of 1:39.36, which was set at the last year's 2015 Pac-12 Championships. The relay team took fourth.

Jordan Anderson set a new school record in the 400 IM as she took seventh in the "A" finals touching in at 4:12.31. The previous school record of 4:18.52 was set last year at the Pac-12 Championships.

In the "C" finals for the 200 back, Kawaguchi took the top spot with a time of 1:56.85, setting a new school record. The previous school record was 1:57.45, which was set at last years Pac-12's. She finished the season with two wins in the 50 back and 100 back and had eight top-five finishes.

Connor Cain Named Pac-12 Freshman Diver of the Year.
Connor Cain was named the Pac-12's Freshman Diver of the Year. He is the first Ute to win a major postseason award from the conference.

Cain, a native of Clovis, Calif., is ranked in the top-10 all-time at Utah in all three diving events. He is seventh in the platform (262.95, UCLA Invite), ninth in the three-meter (336.00, USAF Invite) and 10th in the one-meter event (311.45, NCAA Zones).

Utah Men's Swimming and Diving Place 17 on Pac-12 All-Academic Teams
Seventeen student-athletes from Utah's men's swimming & diving teams were named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Teams this season. The men's team registered seven first-team honorees, seven second-team selections and three honorable-mention nods. The seven first-team selections on the men's side were tied with Stanford for most of any school. Last year, Utah had 10 student-athletes honored and the previous program high was 12 in 2013.

Jacob Crayne, David Fraser, Bence Kiraly, Kyle Owens, Josiah Purss, Ben Scott and Brandon Shreeve were named to the first team. Keanu Interone, Kristian Kron, Luis Macias, Quillan Oak, Nolan Rogers, Keith Schendel and Ganem Tebet were selected to the second team and Jack Burton, Evan Indahl and Brendan Nguyen were honorably mentioned.

To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and participate in at least half of their team's scheduled regular season events.

2015-16 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving All-Academic Team (Utah)
First Team
Jacob Crayne (Sr., 3.78, Communciations)
David Fraser (Sr., 3.54, Finance)
Bence Kiraly (Sr., 3.67, Entrepreneurship)
Kyle Owens (Sr., 3.65, Parks and Recreation Tourism)
Josiah Purss (Jr., 3.81, Finance)
Ben Scott (So., 3.94, Biology)
Brandon Shreeve (So., 3.72, Biomedical Engineering)

Second Team
Keanu Interone (Jr., 3.55, Computer Science)
Kristian Kron (Sr., 3.32, Business Administration)
Luis Macias (Jr., 3.60, Business Administration)
Quillan Oak (Sr., 3.53, English)
Nolan Rogers (Jr., 3.51, Communications)
Keith Schendel (So., 3.52, Mechanical Engineering)
Ganem Tebet (So., 3.48, Electrical Engineering)

Honorable Mention
Jack Burton (So., 3.28, Undecided)
Evan Indahl (Jr., 3.05, Human Development and Family Studies)
Brendan Nguyen (Jr., 3.16, Business Administration)

Utah Women's Swimming & Diving Place 18 on Pac-12 All-Academic Teams
Utah women's swimming and diving had 18 student-athletes named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Teams. The Utes tallied four first team members, four second team honorees and 10 honorable mention nods giving them the most selections of any Pac-12 school, two more than UCLA. Utah's previous high was 13 all-academic selections in 2014 and the Utes had eight student-athletes honored last season.

First team honorees on the women's side included Dorien Butter, Amanda Casillas, Hailey Pabst and Maddie Velez. Stina Colleou, Ashlyn Karosas, Maudee Miner and Petra Soininen were named to the second team as Shayla Archer, Sydney Bull, Paolina Carnevale, Brianna Francis, Lauren Hall, Megan Kawaguchi, Isabella Kearns, Jenna Marsh, Maryssa McArthur and Kat Wickham were honorable mentioned.

2015-16 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving All-Academic Team
First Team
Dorien Butter (So., 3.98, Mechanical Engineering)
Amanda Casillas (Jr., 3.73, ESS)
Hailey Pabst (So., 3.82, Exercise and Sport Sciences)
Maddie Velez (Jr., 3.86, Nursing)

Second Team
Stina Colleou (Jr., 3.68, Psychology)
Ashlyn Karosas (Sr., 3.65, ESS)
Maudee Miner (Sr., 3.47, ESS)
Petra Soininen (Sr., 3.66, Biology)

Honorable Mention
Shayla Archer (So., 3.42, Communications)
Sydney Bull (Sr., 3.24, Communications)
Paolina Carnevale (Sr., 3.22, Marketing)
Brianna Francis (Jr., 3.17, Political Science)
Lauren Hall (So., 3.20, Anthropology
Megan Kawaguchi (So., 3.50, Education)
Isabella Kearns (So., 3.44, ESS)
Jenna Marsh (So., 3.34, Undecided)
Maryssa McArthur (Sr., 3.38, ESS)
Kat Wickham (So., 3.07, Business)