Big 12 West Championship Up Next for Swim and Dive

Friday, January 16

Tempe, AZ

All Day

University of Utah

Big 12 West Championship

Utah Utes Swim vs. Hawaii at Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City, Utah on Monday, December 22, 2025.
Doribel Buenrostro/Utah Athletics

Photo by: Doribel Buenrostro/Utah Athletics

Big 12 West Championship Up Next for Swim and Dive

1/14/2026 2:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Utah travels to Tempe for conference competition

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah swim and dive program is set for the first-ever Big 12 West Championship, kicking off Friday, Jan. 16, at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the campus of Arizona State. The meet will run concurrently with the Big 12 East Championship, hosted by Houston.

Opponents: BYU, Arizona State, Arizona, Kansas
Location: Mona Plummer Aquatic Center | Tempe, Ariz.
Date: Jan. 16
Time: SWIM: Prelims – 10 a.m.; Finals – 5 p.m. | DIVE: 11 a.m. & 4 p.m.
Date: Jan. 17
Time: SWIM: 10 a.m. | DIVE: 11 a.m.
Live Results: Meet Mobile / DiveMeets

Scoring
The Big 12 East/West Championship will utilize a unique scoring system, outlined below:

Men's: 4 entries per team, per event.
Heat 1: B-Final [2 entries per team]
Heat 2: A-Final [2 entries per team]
Women's: 4 entries per team, per event.
Heat 1-2: A/B Final [3 entries per team total]
Heat 3: Super final [1 entry per team]

Men's events will be scored:
- A Final: 20, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13,12, 11
- B: Final: 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Women's competition will be scored:
- Super Final: 32, 28, 27, 26, 25
- 1st-8th: 20, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13,12, 11
- 9th-16th: 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
  - Women's B & C Final will be seeded fastest to slowest, but scoring will be based on final finish.
Relays will be double points limited to two entries per team.
Men's relay will be one heat with 2 entries per team.
Women's relays will run A & B final with 1 entry per team, per heat (2 total entries)

Big Scores Earn Big 12 Awards
Utah has earned a total of seven Big 12 Conference weekly awards this season:

Oct. 30, 2025
- Attila Bernatsky, Men's Diver of the Week
Nov. 20, 2025
- Kathryn Grant, Women's Diver of the Week
Dec. 11, 2025
- Elias Petersen, Men's Diver of the Week
Dec. 30, 2025
- Elias Petersen, Men's Diver of the Week
- Callie Eaglestone, Women's Diver of the Week
- Nolan Dunkel, Men's Newcomer of the Week
- Stephanie Oiesen, Women's Newcomer of the Week

Since joining the Big 12 prior to last season, Utah has claimed 17 weekly awards, 12 of which have come from divers. Petersen leads all Utes with five weekly awards, all Diver of the Week nods, and was recognized as the conference's Diver of the Year a season ago.

Among the Best
The Utes were represented in the women's, men's and combined team rankings when the US Professional Diving Coaches Association (US PDCA) released its second in season poll last month. The women's team checked in at No. 19 nationally, the combined squad was ranked No. 21 and the men's side received votes.

Utah sits as the second-highest-ranked Big 12 school on the women's side, three spots behind No. 16 Kansas, and the third-highest-ranked men's squad behind No. 11 Arizona and RV TCU. As a combined program, Utah is second in the conference behind only No. 14 Arizona.

Looking Back
Utah opened the 2026 portion of its schedule in split-meet fashion last time out, with the men's swim team improving to 5-0 in dual meets with a win on the road at Denver, the women's swim team logging six podium finishes in a quad meet against UCLA, Iowa and UCSB, and the diving program finishing second out of 10 teams at the UCLA Diving Invite.

The men's swim team came out victorious in nine events en route to a 165-132 win over Denver. Davis Stachelek led the way for the Utes with 18 points thanks to wins in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay and 400 Medley Relay. Jakub Walter and Finn Winkler each contributed 12 points while Brandon Miller added 11.

Erin Palmer led the way for the women of Utah in Los Angeles, tying for second in the 50 Free and placing third in the 50 Breast, while Stephanie Oiesen, Rylee McColley and Teagan Steinmetz all earned a bronze medal.

On the boards, the Utes were guided by senior captains Elias Petersen and Kathryn Grant. Petersen finished in the top-five on all three events, placing second on 1-meter, third on 3-meter and fifth on platform. His 340.70 list score in platform finals marked a new personal best and moved him up to eighth in the program record book. Grant won on the 1-meter springboard, her fourth victory in the event so far this season, and placed sixth on both 3-meter and platform. Grant has yet to place lower than sixth this season.

Looking Ahead
After two days at Arizona State, Utah will return to Ute Natatorium to host SMU in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 31. Competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

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