Utes Finish Strong at Big 12 West Championship

Saturday, January 17

Tempe, AZ

All Day

University of Utah

Big 12 West Championship

Photo by: Sun Devil Athletics

1/17/2026 2:04 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Utah records four podium finishes, highlighted by a pair of silver medals

TEMPE, Ariz. – The University of Utah swim and dive program wrapped up competition at the Big 12 West Championship on Saturday, medaling four times at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the campus of Arizona State.

The men's team finished third with 739 points, while the women's squad finished fourth out of five teams with 926 points. Both the men's and women's teams beat BYU.

"I think we finished up the last session pretty well," head coach Jonas Persson said. "Still a lot of mixed results, but we are learning and getting better in many ways, which should help out at the conference championship meet in a few weeks."

Erin Palmer led the way for the Utes in the lanes, claiming a bronze medal in the 100 Free, her third podium finish of the weekend. The senior led all Utah swimmers with 81 points across two days of competition. Strahinja Maslo paced the men's squad with 52 points on the weekend, while Evan VanBrocklin added 34, Cole Bettis contributed 32, and Brandon Miller scored 31.5.

The Utes claimed three podium finishes, including a pair of silver medals, on the diving boards. Kathryn Grant took second and Callie Eaglestone finished third on the women's 1-meter springboard, while Elias Petersen placed second on the men's 3-meter board.

"We came back well today and performed a lot better as a whole," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "It was great to have Kat diving today and she again showed why she's one of the best in the nation by leading the charge for us. We have had a very busy start to the semester and I know we're a bit travel-weary, so it'll be good to have several weeks at home where we can rest up and fine tune everything for the stretch run."

In the Pool
The Utes logged eight top-five finishes in A-finals or super finals on Saturday morning.

Palmer won a bronze medal for the second day in a row, this time taking third in the 100 Free with a 50.22.
Ella Derby placed fourth in the women's 200 IM with a 2:02.78. On the men's side, Maslo took fourth with a 1:47.24 and Durgan McKean took fifth with a 1:48.79. Finn Winkler and Bettis finished one-two in B-finals, touching the wall in 1:47.23 and 1:48.86, respectively.
Sydney Even took fourth in the women's 200 Fly with a personal-best 2:02.27. VanBrocklin placed fifth in the men's race, touching the wall in 1:46.60 to finish one spot ahead of Jakub Walter's 1:46.71.
Stephanie Oiesen placed fourth in the women's 200 Back, clocking a 2:00.35.
Hayley Smith also nabbed a fourth-place finish in the women's 1650 Free, touching the wall in 17:01.45.
Davis Stachelek and Tim Rogersson finished back-to-back in the men's 100 Free, touching the wall in 44.47 and 44.54 to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.

On the Boards
Both silver medals on the day were won by divers.

Grant and Eaglestone each medaled on the 1-meter springboard. Grant took second with a 283.60 and Eaglestone took bronze with a 270.30. Annalise Shrader placed ninth with a 238.00 while fellow freshman Cierra Cole took 12th with a 228.45.
Petersen led the Utah men with a second-place finish on the 3-meter board. The senior paced the Utes with a 340.70. Attila Bernatsky placed sixth with a 285.65 and Alex Just came in 11th with a 224.65 list score.

Up Next
Utah returns home for its next meet, taking on SMU inside Ute Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 31. The meet is slated to begin at 10 a.m., preceded by a Senior Day ceremony to recognize this year's class of 10 seniors.

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.