Nilsson Garip, Horner Smash Records for Utah Swim & Dive

Nilsson Garip, Horner Smash Records for Utah Swim & Dive

11/16/2023 10:16 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Nilsson Garip breaks Utah record on the 1m, Horner posts fastest time in the nation in the 100 breast

SALT LAKE CITY – Jaek Horner broke the school record and recorded the fastest time in the country so far in 2023-24 in the 100 breaststroke and Emilia Nilsson Garip posted her second program-best in as many days as the University of Utah swimming and diving team competed on day two of the Texas A&M Invitational at the Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station, Texas and the CMU Invitational, which is taking place at the El Pomar Natatorium in Grand Junction, Colo.

"We had a good day today with some mixed results," said head coach Jonas Persson. "It was very fun to have Jaek post a time that qualifies him to the NCAA championships. It was fun to break pool records and record Olympic trial qualification times. We have a lot of learning to do from our swims and the swimmers are doing a great job with that. Our spirits are high and the team culture is great, so we all know that we are on the right path moving forward."

Utah at the Texas A&M Invitational
In the Pool
Horner's very eventful day got started with him posting a time of 1.01.70 in the 100 meter breaststroke, which goes down qualifies him for the Olympic trials. Soon after, Horner clocked at 51.32 in the 100 yard breaststroke final, which earned him first place, broke the school record in that event and goes down as the fastest time in the country in that race so far in 2023-24.

Brandon Miller also had a busy day two in College Station and included a pair of Olympic trial cuts, first by reaching the finish in 4:21.36 in the 400 meter IM and again with a time of 55.66 in the 100 meter back. The former mark was also a new pool record at the Texas A&M Natatorium. Miller capped off the afternoon by placing fourth in the 400 IM final and fifth in the 100 back final.

Utah's day began with the team of Parker McOmber, Horner, Jackson Kehler and Davis Stachelek placing third in the men's 200 medley relay in 1:26.78 and Summer Stanfield was responsible for the team's first strong showing on the women's side by finishing fifth in the 400 IM in 4:17.12.

Evan VanBrocklin took fifth in the men's 400 IM, clocking in at 3:48.75 and Kehler's finish in 48.35 in the 100 fly was good enough for third. Jakub Walter crafted a third-place showing of his own in the 200 free by reaching the finish in 1:36.54 and Landon Nava's mark of 54.68 was fast enough for him to win the 100 breast B final. The Utes finished the day with a third-place showing in the 800 free relay by VanBrocklin, Walter, Nick Chirafisi and Stachelek.

On the Boards
Nilsson Garip's second straight record breaking day started with her placing third in the prelims with 307.05 points and Holly Waxman wasn't far behind with a mark of 290.75. In the final, Nilsson Garip's total of 326.30 not only put her in first place, but also topped the previous program-best of 312.22, set by Kelsey Patterson in 2006. Waxman also improved on her preliminary score, taking third with 306.15 points. Kathryn Grant finished the event in 10th, while Sydney Kowalski placed 24th.

"Holly and Emilia have put on a clinic on the springboard events and proven themselves to be one of, if not the best, 1-2 punch in the country right now," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "They were both dialed in in finals and there is still a lot of room for improvement from both of them. As a program, we've been gunning for those springboard records for years and we have been so so close to breaking them. I'm proud of the program that we've built and that Emilia was able to top the competition and the school record the past two days."

The men spent the day diving from the 3m and Elias Petersen has the best day for the Utes, crafting a score of 353.65 in the prelims, then posting a mark of 337.75 to place seventh in the final. Petersen, Waxman and Nilsson Garip all ended Thursday with NCAA qualifying marks to their credit.

"Elias is in the process of getting a new dive in his list," said Marschner, "and I'm really happy with the progress he's making. In the short term, it's hurting his results a little bit on three-meter but it'll really help out in the long run at the World Championshps, Pac-12's, NCAA Zones and nationals and those are the meets we're training for."

Utah at the CMU Invitational
On day two in Colorado, a few Utes found ways to take home victories, starting with Micah Ginoza in the 500 free B final. His mark of 4:35.37 earned him the top spot. Isabella Riso bested her competition in the 200 IM B final, clocking in at 2:06.04 and Kyla Yetter's time of 24.03 was good enough to place her first in the 50 free C final. Utah finished the day with one more strong show by the 200 free relay team of Riso, Sofia Carlson, Yetter and Kim Lanaghen, who took third by reaching the finish in 1:36.06.

"Today was another positive day of racing," said assistant coach Jordan Taylor. "We had a number of people back for finals this evening. My biggest takeaway was the swimmers learned from their prelim swims, they took the feedback I gave them and came into tonight a little more focused, a little more upbeat and executed some really good races."

Looking Ahead
The Texas A&M Invitational will conclude on Friday, while two days of competition remain in Grand Junction.

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