Petersen’s Gold Highlights Day Three of Big 12 Championships

Thursday, February 26

Greensboro, NC

All Day

University of Utah

Big 12 Conference Championships - Day 3

Photo by: Margaret Mower/Utah Athletics

Petersen’s Gold Highlights Day Three of Big 12 Championships

2/26/2026 8:24 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results (PDF)

Senior nabs third medal in as many days

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Utah swim and dive program earned three medals, including a gold on the diving boards, at the Big 12 Conference Championships on Thursday.

After three days inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Utah's men's team sits in third place out of seven teams with 838 points while the women's side sits in fourth out of 10 teams with 463 points.

Elias Petersen claimed his third medal and second gold of the week with a first-place finish on the men's 1-meter springboard. The senior, who took silver on 3-meter last night, earned a 76.80 on his sixth and final dive of the night to catapult himself into first place and the conference title.

"Elias put on a show today," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "He has been there so many times before and come up just short at so many conference finals, he's always in the mix, he's always been there. It was absolutely great to see him get that win, he's one of those people that a lot of the crowd and a lot of his competitors were rooting for. It says so much about him as a person and as a competitor."

Callie Eaglestone also brought home a medal for Utah diving, finishing third on the women's 3-meter thanks to a clutch sixth-round dive as well.

"Callie did a wonderful, wonderful job," Marschner said. "She's such a steady performer and really steps up when it counts. She's been lights-out in this meet, and we're looking forward to tower. I think that's a really strong event for us, both the men and the women."

In the pool, six Utes competed in championship finals, with two of those finishing in the top 5. Strahinja Maslo won bronze in the men's 400 IM while Ella Derby took sixth in the women's race, Evan VanBrocklin followed up Wednesday night's gold medal with a school-record 100 Fly, and Nick Chirafisi broke his own program record in the 200 Free for the second time this week during his sixth-place swim.

"Today was a very solid day all around," head coach Jonas Persson said. "We had a lot of people make it back to finals and a lot of people score big points. Today was just what we needed. I think the team is fired up about where they are in the rankings and they know that they have to work really hard and put their head down and get the job done here the next two days to finish the way that we want and the way that we deserve."

Prelims
Utah had 28 student-athletes advance out of prelims and into finals on Thursday after 25 advanced on Wednesday.

Five Utah men advanced out of the prelims in the 100 Fly. Evan VanBrocklin, Utah's program record-holder in the event, led the way with a 46.12 to reach championship finals, logging the fourth-fastest time on the day, while Finn Winkler (46.81), Jackson Kehler (47.02) and Nolan Dunkel (47.05) reached consolation finals. Durgan McKean qualified for bonus finals with a 47.53.
Ella Derby logged the sixth-fastest time in the 400 IM with a 4:19.42, reaching championship finals. Teagan Steinmetz and Ellie Broughton each made consolation finals, touching the wall in 4:21.79 and 4:23.12, respectively.
On the men's side, three Utes found their way into championship finals. Strahinja Maslo logged the second-fastest time of the day with a 3:47.48, while Brandon Miller placed fourth with a 3:48.68 and Matthew Sexton placed seventh with a 3:49.99. Cole Bettis (3:52.15) and Kelson Flynn (3:52.66) both reached consolation finals.
After winning gold in the 500 Free on Wednesday night, Nick Chirafisi led the Utes in the 200 Free, touching the wall in 1:34.10 to finish with the sixth-fastest time and qualify for championship finals. Three Utes also qualified in each of the other finals – Jones Lambert (1:35.15), Davis Stachelek (1:35.71) and Oskar Farkas (1:35.99) made consolation finals and Tim Rogersson (1:36.14), Nolan Arnholt (1:36.04) and Jakub Walter (1:36.44) made bonus finals.
Isabella Riso was the lone Utah woman to advance in the 200 Free, reaching bonus finals with a 1:49.33.
All three Utah men's divers advanced out of prelims on the 1-meter springboard. Elias Petersen placed third with a 359.65 to advance to championship finals after winning silver on the 3-meter last night, while Attila Bernatsky (269.80) and Alex Just (260.70) both reached consolation finals.
Callie Eaglestone was the lone Ute to advance to championship finals thanks to a 303.95 on the 3-meter, but Kathryn Grant (274.35), Annalise Shrader (247.15) and Cierra Cole (264.10) all reached consolation finals.

Finals
Spurred by Petersen's gold medal, Utah secured valuable points in the hunt for team placements.

The Malmo, Sweden, native scored a 401.10 list score on 1-meter, edging out the runner-up from Arizona by less than a point. Alex Just finished 13th overall and fifth in consolation finals with a 273.20, two spots ahead of Attila Bernatsky's 246.10.
On 3-meter, Eaglestone scored a 326.26 and was less than a point away from silver. Grant finished second in consolation finals with a 267.10, while Annalise Shrader and Cierra Cole placed 12th and 13th at 261.35 and 246.60, respectively.
VanBrocklin touched the wall in 45.69 in the 100 Fly championship finals, breaking his own program record set at the conference championship a season ago. Dunkel and Winkler tied for fourth in consolation finals at 46.84, and Kehler finished 16th overall with a 47.35.
Derby clocked a 4:18.63 to come in sixth in championship finals of the women's 400 IM. Steinmetz (4:19.49) and Broughton (4:20.97) finished second and fourth, respectively, in consolation finals.
In the men's race, Maslo's 3:45.89 was good enough for bronze and was joined on the podium by Sexton and Miller, who placed seventh and eighth in championship finals at 3:50.75 and 3:53.00. Bettis came in third in consolation finals with a 3:51.78, and Flynn placed 15th overall with a 3:54.24.
Chirafisi was the lone Ute in the 200 Free championship finals, breaking the program record he set on Tuesday with a 1:33.60. Lambert came in second in consolation finals with a 1:34.51, two spots ahead of Stachelek and his 1:35.24. Farkas placed seventh in the race with a 1:36.57, while Rogersson came in second in bonus finals after touching the wall in 1:35.47.

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