Utah Swim & Dive Cruises Past Colorado Mesa

Friday, January 5

Salt Lake City, UT

3:30 p.m.

University of Utah

201

Colorado Mesa

Photo by: Axe Tang/Utah Athletics

1/5/2024 8:40 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results

Five Utes claim multiple wins in 219-81 and 201-97 victories

SALT LAKE CITY – Five different Utes won multiple events and six more swimmers earned at least one victory while contributing to one of four relay triumphs for the University of Utah swimming and diving team, which downed the Colorado Mesa Mavericks by scores of 219-81 in the women's competition and 201-97 on the men's side on Friday evening inside the Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.

"I thought it was a good meet," said head coach Jonas Persson. "We haven't raced since either mid-season or the US Open, so it was a good meet to come back and get back into it. I thought we had a lot of positive signs and we also saw a lot people know what they need to work on and know how to approach a meet. Overall, we got some very good feedback from this meet."

IN THE POOL
None of Utah's swimmers spent more time atop the podium than Erin Palmer, who rattled off three wins and teamed up with Cameron Daniell, Lily Milner and Reagan Cathcart to take the 500 free relay in 4:33.44. Palmer's first win came in the 50 breast, where she clocked in at 29.38. She later bested the field in the 50 free in 23.37 and locked up another triumph in the 100 individual medley in 58.40. This is the third meet during the 2023-24 campaign in which Palmer has taken first in multiple races.

Norah Hay helped the home team start fast by joining forces with Krystal Lieu, Kim Lanaghen and Lily Milner for a mark of 8:25.91 that won the 800 medley relay. Hay then swam her into the winner's circle in two individual events, first in the 50 back with a time of 26.80 and again in the 150 back, where she touched in 1:28.82. This matched a performance by Hay against Arizona on Oct. 27, when she also won twice.

Summer Stanfield was one more two-time victor for Utah, snagging her first win in the 150 free in 1:23.41 and repeating that feat in 300 IM, which she completed in 3:15.76. Stanfield now has four meets in 2023-24 in which she can claim multiple victories. The Utah women also benefitted from first-place performances from Taylor Kabacy, who clocked in at 4:03.15 in the 400 free, and Maddie Woznick, the victor in the 50 fly in 26.26.

Utah's men's team opened the day with Brandon Miller, Jaek Horner, Evan VanBrocklin and Jakub Walter taking home the top spot in the 800 medley relay in 7:23.94 and finished the meet with Nick Chirafisi, Kelson Flynn, Matthew Dedering and Will Woodall nabbing first in the 500 free relay in 4:03.07. In between, there were eight individual wins, starting with Chirafisi in the 800 free in 7:36.32.

The 150 free went to Dedering in 1:14.03 and Horner outpaced his competitors in the 50 breast to the tune of a time of 25.50 for another victory. Marko Kovacic's time of 1:18.85 put him at the top of the leaderboard in the 150 fly and Woodall joined his teammate in the winner's circle by reaching the finish in the 50 free in 20:44.

Baylor Lewis scratched out a W in the 150 breast, reaching the wall in 1:30.48, Dylan Becker grabbed first in the 400 free in 3:42.12 and Jackson Kehler was the winner in the 50 fly in 22.52.

ON THE BOARDS
Utah's divers were led Holly Waxman and Elias Petersen, both of whom bested the field in both the 1m and 3m and recorded NCAA Championship qualifying scores in each competition.

Waxman got her evening underway with a total of 289.95 in the 1m and followed that by racking up 312.53 points in the 3m. This represented the first time in 2023-24 Waxman has ended a meet with two triumphs to her credit, though she's taken first in the 1m three times during her junior campaign. Not far behind Waxman in both events was Kathryn Grant, who also put together a pair of NCAA qualifying performances.

Petersen posted a 1m point total of 328.65, then bumped that score up to 396.68 in the 3m. The sophomore from Sweden has now won both of those events in a single meet four times during the 2023-24 campaign.

"We came out pretty strong today after a long week of training in California," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "We got back late last night and they showed up really well and executed even though they were fatigued, so I'm happy about where we are and where we're going."

Looking Ahead
California is the next destination for Utah's swimmers and divers. The squad's swimmers will compete against USC on Jan. 12 and UCLA one day later. The divers will also be in Los Angeles for the UCLA Diving Invitational from Jan. 12 - 14.

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