Tuesday, February 24
Greensboro, NC
All Day
University of Utah
vs
Big 12 Conference Championships
Photo by: Margaret Mower/Utah Athletics
Team Event Golds Highlight First Day of Big 12 Championships
2/24/2026 6:20 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
Utah sweeps diving competition, breaks relay record to start postseason
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Utah swim and dive program opened up competition at the 2026 Big 12 Conference Championships inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Tuesday night and diving took center stage, with the Utes winning gold in both the men's and women's team events.
Kathryn Grant, Callie Eaglestone and Emilia Nilsson Garip won Utah's first medal of the night in the women's team event with a 312.55 before Elias Petersen, Alex Just and Attila Bernatsky finished atop the podium to close out the first night in Greensboro with a 371.95, shattering the program record set at last season's conference meet.
"What a really exciting night with it coming down to the final dive for both the men and the women," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "It is absolutely amazing to see the team believing in themselves and doing what I know they have always been capable of. Seeing it all come together is pretty magical, it was awesome."
Utah was able to put itself in the top three early in both team events and used big dives in the sixth round to walk away with both gold medals. With the women sitting in second heading into the final round, Grant scored a 64.00 to put the Utes ahead of TCU by 0.30 points.
On the men's side, Utah entered the final round in first thanks to a 60.00 on 1-meter by Petersen but needed a big score from Just in the sixth to keep it. The sophomore gave Utah just that, scoring 80.00 points on platform to complete the sweep on the night.
"It is a lot of pressure standing up there on 10-meter about to hurl yourself off, and both Alex and Kathryn came through," Marschner said. "Everybody dove extraordinarily well, it is fun to see people step up for their team and I'm excited for what we're going to do individually.
"This was a couple of special wins for me personally," he added. "This team event is something I've been working on for a long time with the NCAA and trying to get this as a scoring event for the divers, so it's really awesome to win and to come through in the clutch."
In the pool, the team of Nick Chirafisi, Tim Rogersson, Finn Winkler and Evan VanBrocklin took third in the 800 Freestyle Relay with a 6:17:20, winning bronze and breaking the program record that was set during last year's championships. Chirafisi and VanBrocklin were a part of the record-setting relay team a season ago. Chirafisi also broke his own program record in the 200 Free with his leadoff stint of 1:33.63.
"The guys put on a great show and it equaled a school record for the relay and a record for Nick leading off," head coach Jonas Persson said. "I'm very happy with how the guys performed out there, and we have three of those four guys back next year so I think they are just going to continue getting better and better and hopefully put us in a really nice position."
Heading into the second day of the Big 12 Championships, Utah sits in second place as a team with 168 points, trailing Arizona State by 12.
Competition inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center resumes on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with prelims starting at 8 a.m. MT and finals getting underway at 3:15 p.m. MT. Both sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.
Kathryn Grant, Callie Eaglestone and Emilia Nilsson Garip won Utah's first medal of the night in the women's team event with a 312.55 before Elias Petersen, Alex Just and Attila Bernatsky finished atop the podium to close out the first night in Greensboro with a 371.95, shattering the program record set at last season's conference meet.
Champions together. First gold medal of the week!??#GoUtes | #Big12SD pic.twitter.com/nJmCVYMnOY
— Utah Swim & Dive (@UTAHswimdive) February 24, 2026
Gold medal. Program record. What a showing from these three! ??#GoUtes | #Big12SD pic.twitter.com/8jJQ680kac
— Utah Swim & Dive (@UTAHswimdive) February 25, 2026
"What a really exciting night with it coming down to the final dive for both the men and the women," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "It is absolutely amazing to see the team believing in themselves and doing what I know they have always been capable of. Seeing it all come together is pretty magical, it was awesome."
Utah was able to put itself in the top three early in both team events and used big dives in the sixth round to walk away with both gold medals. With the women sitting in second heading into the final round, Grant scored a 64.00 to put the Utes ahead of TCU by 0.30 points.
Ice in her veins! ??
— Utah Swim & Dive (@UTAHswimdive) February 24, 2026
Kathryn Grant gives Utah the lead in the final round of the women's team event!#GoUtes | #Big12SD pic.twitter.com/d1KS21bCKa
On the men's side, Utah entered the final round in first thanks to a 60.00 on 1-meter by Petersen but needed a big score from Just in the sixth to keep it. The sophomore gave Utah just that, scoring 80.00 points on platform to complete the sweep on the night.
ALEX. JUST. CLUTCH.#GoUtes | #Big12SD pic.twitter.com/iqxthBuDkB
— Utah Swim & Dive (@UTAHswimdive) February 25, 2026
"It is a lot of pressure standing up there on 10-meter about to hurl yourself off, and both Alex and Kathryn came through," Marschner said. "Everybody dove extraordinarily well, it is fun to see people step up for their team and I'm excited for what we're going to do individually.
"This was a couple of special wins for me personally," he added. "This team event is something I've been working on for a long time with the NCAA and trying to get this as a scoring event for the divers, so it's really awesome to win and to come through in the clutch."
In the pool, the team of Nick Chirafisi, Tim Rogersson, Finn Winkler and Evan VanBrocklin took third in the 800 Freestyle Relay with a 6:17:20, winning bronze and breaking the program record that was set during last year's championships. Chirafisi and VanBrocklin were a part of the record-setting relay team a season ago. Chirafisi also broke his own program record in the 200 Free with his leadoff stint of 1:33.63.
PROGRAM RECORD! ????
— Utah Swim & Dive (@UTAHswimdive) February 24, 2026
Nick Chirafisi, Tim Rogersson, Finn Winkler and Evan VanBrocklin break the Utah record in the 800 Free Relay en route to a bronze medal!
Chirafisi also breaks his own program record in the 200 Free with a 1:33.63!#GoUtes | #Big12SD pic.twitter.com/aMOUo0sbc4
"The guys put on a great show and it equaled a school record for the relay and a record for Nick leading off," head coach Jonas Persson said. "I'm very happy with how the guys performed out there, and we have three of those four guys back next year so I think they are just going to continue getting better and better and hopefully put us in a really nice position."
Heading into the second day of the Big 12 Championships, Utah sits in second place as a team with 168 points, trailing Arizona State by 12.
Competition inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center resumes on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with prelims starting at 8 a.m. MT and finals getting underway at 3:15 p.m. MT. Both sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.
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