Utah Swim Tallies Nine Top-10 Times in Day 1 of Invites

Utah Swim Tallies Nine Top-10 Times in Day 1 of Invites

11/20/2024 10:57 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Jonas’s group earns 26 best times and three NCAA B-cuts

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The University of Utah's swim program wrapped up day one at the Art Adamson Invitational and the Colorado Mesa Invitational marking 26 best times and three NCAA B-cuts on Wednesday at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas and Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colo.

Utah's swim team divided and visited Texas A&M's Art Adamson Invitationals and Colorado Mesa's TYR Invitational for their midseason competitions. In Texas, the Utes are facing off with the Aggies, Washington State, Air Force, Incarnate Word and conference rival, TCU. The Colorado crew is taking on Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines, Wyoming and Northern Arizona.

Texas A&M

"It was a good day today," said head coach Jonas Persson. "A lot of people stepped up, raced hard and has some personal best swims."

Final(s) Countdown

On the women's side, Utah started of the final session with a bang, clocking in their 200-yard free relay in at 1:30.82, just 0.13 off the program record and taking the bronze medal.
Nine swimmers were representing the U in an A-final for the first night of the invitational.
The men's 500-free showed out with 11 Utes making it back for a second appearance, six in the A-final. Nick Chirafisi and Jones Lambert set the example with a one-two finish, touching the wall at 4:18.15 and 4:18.19, just .03 milliseconds apart.
Six Utes made an appearance in the women's 500-free finals, Abby Pope leading off the group with an eighth-place finish of 4:54.48.
Ella Derby and five others raced the 200-yard IM, Derby in the A-final touching in at seventh with 2:01.78.
Durgan McKean was the sole Ute to swim in the A-final of the 200IM, but Evan VanBrocklin and Strahinja Maslo weren't far behind finishing the race 2^nd and 3^rd in the B-final.
Fifth seed, Erin Palmer, and 21^st seed, Lily Milner, fought their way into the A-final of the 50-yard free, finishing the night in second and sixth at 22.37 and 23.02.
Davis Stachelek and Will Woodall represented the Utes in the B-final of the 50-free, finishing the evening in 10^th and 11^th after Stachelek outtouched Woodall by .01, 20.21 to 20.22.

Best Times, Cuts and Records

Utah logged more than 20 best times in prelims and finals.
Ece Yildirim started the trend after dropping 15 seconds in her 500-free and touching the wall at 5:00.75.
Eight Utes snagged a best time in the men's 500-free: Chirafisi, Tomas Chocolaty, Nolan Arnholt, Brandon Miller, Jones Lambert, Cameron Gallagher and Owen Carlsen.
Chirafisi and Jones's performances in the A-final of the 500-free earned both Utes Utah's first NCAA B-cuts of the season. The NCAA B-cut is 4:21.28 and the two swimmers clocked in at 4:18.15 and 4:18.19. These times would also bring both Utes their second Top Ten Time, this time putting Chirafisi at #3 and Lambert at #4.
Anya Clark, Alexia Douglas, Derby and Rylee McColley all dropped time to earn a best time in the women's 200-IM.
Six more Utah swimmers collected a best swim in the 200IM on the men's side: Cole Bettis, Kellen Flynn, Gallagher, Maslo, McKean and VanBrocklin.
McKean's 200IM was the third NCAA B-cut of the night, finishing the race at 1:45.44, just ahead of the cut, but earning a fourth-place tie on the Utes top 10 times list.
To end the night, five 50-freestylers beat their previous times: Palmer, Milner, Stackelek, Cameron and Winston Sundeen.

"The team atmosphere is outstanding and it's great to see our swimmers go out and race for their tea and school. Overall, it was a great start to the meet," said Persson.

Colorado Mesa Invitational

"Overall, pretty solid first night," said assistant coach Jordan Taylor. "The purpose of doing the relays was to give everyone a chance to swim, to get into the meet and shake out their bodies from traveling."

Shaking it out

Leading off the Utes in the 800-free relay, Oskar Farkas went a lifetime best in his 200-free. Clocking in at 1:36.28, converted for the altitude, Farkas dropped four second from his previous lifetime best and earned a place in the Utah record book, recording the ninth fastest time in program history.
With the Utes trying out different strokes, Annalise Hedges was able to earn a lifetime best leading Utah off in the 50-yard back stroke, the first leg of the 200-medley relay.
More than four Utes went season best performances in both the men and women's 200-medley relay and the 800-free relay.

Overall, vibes are good. Everyone's pretty happy and excited about the next few days. It was a successful first night and we've done exactly what we're looking for—to get them in the pool, get them moving and get them ready to attack their individual races coming up."

Looking Ahead
Utah continues competition in both Texas and Colorado as both groups take on day two of their midseason invitationals.

Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UTAHswimdive | Instagram: @utahswimdive | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahUtesSwimDive), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.