Men’s Team Downs BYU in Rivalry Meet

Friday, February 6

Provo, UT

5:00 PM

University of Utah

160.5

139.5

BYU

Photo by: Evan Sosnowski/Utah Athletics

2/6/2026 9:03 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Utah’s men take down Cougars, women drop narrow contest and diving dominates

PROVO, Utah – The University of Utah swim and dive program wrapped up its regular season inside the Richards Building Pool, splitting the rivalry dual meet against BYU on Friday night.

The Utah men snapped a two-meet losing streak against the Cougars, winning 160.5-139.5, while the women of Utah battled hard but fell by a narrow 160-140 margin.

"Today was a solid meet," head coach Jonas Persson said. "The men stepped up and got the job done. They had great camaraderie, they were all very excited, and certainly very happy to get the win after losing the last two years. The women fought hard, we lost a lot of close races which certainly get a difference with the end score, but I'm very pleased and I think this is certainly a step in the right direction. It's looking very promising for conference championships coming up and looking very promising for next season as well."

Evan VanBrocklin led all Utah swimmers with 18 points thanks to wins in both the 100 and 200 Fly. Nick Chirafisi added 13 points for the men thanks to a win in the 200 Free and a silver medal in the 500 Free, while Strahinja Maslo netted the Utes 12 points on a 200 IM gold and a 200 Breast bronze.

Hayley Smith led the Utah women for the second meet in a row, totaling 12 points thanks to a gold medal in the 1000 Free and a bronze in the 500 Free, while Sydney Even added 11 with a win in the 200 Fly and a fourth-place result in the 100 Fly with both swims marking new personal bests.

Three Utah swimmers set new pool records on the night as well. Chirafisi (200 Free), Smith (1000 Free) and Erin Palmer (50 Free) all etched their names in the record book at Richards Building Pool.

Utah dominated on the diving boards, winning all four events. The women of Utah swept the podium on both the 1- and 3-meter springboards, including a one-through-five finish on 3-meter. Callie Eaglestone won gold on 1-meter and Kathryn Grant scored highest on 3-meter, setting a new pool record of her own as well as the fourth-highest score in program history in the process. Elias Petersen took home gold on both boards for the men's side.

"We had an incredible bounce back meet tonight in a very tough environment," head diving coach Richard Marschner said. "We love this rivalry and I think both teams always rise to the occasion and bring out the best in each other.

"Kathryn set a new personal best and put her name on another pool record board, and our woman going one through five on 3-meter was a first for us. We got three new zone cuts from Emilia, Ciera and Annalise, and Elias is rounding into form at just the right time with a couple dominating performances. This was exactly the meat we needed to give us the physical and mental boost heading into the Big 12 Championships."

In the Pool
The Utes came out on top in 10 events on Friday night. The men's team led the way with seven gold medals.

The men of Utah swept the 100 Back, with Nolan Dunkel clocking a 47.34, Finn Winkler touching in 47.52, and Nash Hale recording a 47.84. Kindsey Joyce placed third in the women's race, touching the wall in 55.78.
Utah's women swept the 200 Fly with all three podium finishes clocking new personal bests. Even touched in 2:02.05, winning gold, Sophia Cerimele logged a 2:03.10, and Veronica Gourley recorded a 2:03.99 for bronze.
On the men's side in the event, VanBrocklin and Jakub Walter finished one-two, logging times of 1:44.76 and 1:46.43, respectively.
Brandon Miller (1:45.06), Nash Hale (1:46.26) and Matthew Sexton completed the sweep in the 200 Back for the Utah men, while Stephanie Oiesen (2:00.61) and Megan Legarth (2:00.92) finished second and third for the women.
Smith won gold in the women's 1000 Free with a personal-best 10:04.24, while Ellie Broughton placed third with a PB 10:11.88. On the men's side, Quinn Jones took third with a collegiate-best 9:17.05.
Chirafisi won the men's 200 Free with a 1:35.23 while Oskar Farkas joined him on the podium thanks to a 1:37.24, finishing third. Isabella Riso also took third in the women's race, clocking a 1:50.28.
Erin Palmer won the women's 50 Free, touching in 22.27 and Davis Stachelek placed second in the men's race with a personal-best 20.02.
Stachelek also took silver in the 100 Free, clocking a 43.89.
Ella Derby (1:02.51) and Rylee McColley (1:02.59) finished second and third, respectively, in the women's 100 Breast. Durgan McKean won bronze for the men with a 54.20 swim.
Teagan Steinmetz and Derby also finished two-three in the 200 Breast, logging times of 2:16.97 and 2:17.86, while Maslo won bronze for the men at 1:59.02.
Chirafisi took silver in the men's 500 Free with a 4:25.04 swim and Smith earned her second medal of the night in the women's race, touching in 4:57.71 for bronze.
Gourley, Julia Bartell, and Even all recorded new bests in the 100 Fly, finishing two-three-four. On the men's side, VanBrocklin won gold at 46.84 and Jackson Kehler took bronze with a 47.62.
Winkler, Stachelek, Chirafisi and VanBrocklin won gold in the men's 400 Free Relay, clocking a 2:54.85 for the Utes' lone relay win of the night.

On the Boards
Utah won gold in all four of the diving events, including a pair of podium sweeps.

The Utah women claimed the top five spots on the 3-meter board. Grant won with a 341.85 list score – a personal best and the fourth highest in school history – to beat out Emilia Nilsson Garip's 331.80. Eaglestone rounded out the podium with a 293.35, while the freshman duo of Annalise Shrader and Cierra Cole finished fourth and fifth and both recorded personal bests, scoring 287.20 and 284.60, respectively.
Utah's women also swept the competition on the 1-meter springboard. Eaglestone won with a 297.00, Grant came in second with a 295.55, and Nilsson Garip won bronze with a 278.30.
Petersen led the way for the men on the 1-meter board, winning gold with a 270.30.
Petersen also won on the 3-meter with a 389.55 while Attila Bernatsky placed third with a 320.90 total.

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