Utah Swim & Dive Starts New Year by Hosting Colorado Mesa

Friday, January 6

Salt Lake City, UT

TBD

University of Utah

Colorado Mesa

Utah Swim & Dive Starts New Year by Hosting Colorado Mesa

1/4/2023 11:56 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Utes start 2023 with two days at the Ute Natatorium

SALT LAKE CITY – One month has gone by since the University of Utah swimming and diving team's last meet, but they are about to jump back into competition and this next event will take place inside the friendly confines of the Ute Natatorium on Jan. 6-7, when the Utes host the Colorado Mesa Mavericks. The action on Friday will begin at 2 p.m., while the Saturday portion of the meet will start at 11 a.m.

This will be the fourth time in 2022-23 Utah will get to compete in its home pool and the last instance resulted in their first victory of the season, as both the men and women topped UNLV. That triumph also counted for Jonas Persson's first win as head coach.

The last time the Mavericks traveled to Salt Lake City was in January of 2021 and the Utes cruised to a dual meet triumph on that day, with the men winning 191-52 and the women coming out on top, 196-67. Among Utah's heroes on that day were Maddie Woznick, Cooper deRyk and Emma Broome, all of whom broke pool records.

"I'm excited about the meet," said Persson. "Two days to get up and race is good for us this time of year. The team has been training hard, but they are still ready to race fast. Colorado Mesa is a good team and well-coached, so it will be a good challenge for us. We are struggling with sickness, so I hope and expect swimmers to step up and race."

Last Time Out
The Utes' final competition of the 2022 calendar year was the Big Al Invitational and Persson saw his squad post one new top-10 time or score after another, 30 in all. That number included a pair of program records by Jaek Horner, one in the 100 breaststroke and the other in the 200 breaststroke. Horner also teamed up with Finn O'Haimhirgin, Andrei Ungur and JP Hynes to post a new school best in the 400 free relay.

Nine other Utes put up a pair of top 10 times or scores during the team's stay in New Jersey and included on that list was Summer Stanfield, who now sits in second-place all-time in both the 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley. Hilja Schimmel added a pair of top five times to the program record book as well, first in 100 breast, which she finished in in 1:01.69, and again in the 200 breast with a time of 2:13.27.

On the men's side, Evan VanBrocklin entered his name into the all-time rankings in three different events, including the men's 400 IM, where his mark of 3:49.51 went down as fifth-best in Utah history and counted as an NCAA B Qualifying time, one of more than 30 such performances by the Utes in Princeton.

Utah's divers were just as impressive during this most recent competition and their list of accomplishments included a score of 282.40 on the platform from Kathryn Grant. That mark was the best in the history of Princeton's DeNunzio Pool and fourth-best all-time by a Ute. It was also part of a fantastic final day on 10m that saw Luke McDivitt earn the day's highest score at 385.50 and Jenner Pennock move up to sixth all-time with a performance that graded out at 356.80, a new personal-best.

The final day came after sophomore Holly Waxman started the event by logging the school's fifth-best score in the 3m and followed that up with a 307.30 on day two, the program's second-highest mark ever in the 1m. Grant's point total of 291.10 in the 1m was good enough for a top 10 spot as well, placing her eighth all-time.

Order of Events
Friday
400 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
400 IM
200 Free Relay

Saturday
200 Medley Relay
Diving #1
500 Free
100 Fly
100 Free
200 Back
Diving #2
200 Breast
200 IM
400 Free Relay

Looking Ahead
One week after the Utes take on the Mavericks, Utah will be in Los Angeles for the UCLA Diving Invite.

Follow the Utes!
For fans of the Utah men's/women's swimming and diving programs, follow the Utes on Twitter (@UTAHswimdive), Instagram (@utahswimdive) and Facebook (@UtahUtesSwimDive).