SALT LAKE CITY – Competing in their final home meet of the 2022-23 season, the University of Utah swimming and diving team closed out the home slate in style by dropping the BYU Cougars on Saturday, cruising to a 226-74 final on the women's side and pulling out a 163-137 triumph in the men's competition, which took place at the Ute Natatorium.
 
"It feels really good [to get this win]," said head coach Jonas Persson. "On the women's side, we had a lot of strong races. The girls stepped up really well and had some great momentum. The men's side was a lot tougher. It was one race at a time, one event at a time. We had some bad luck, we had some good luck and, in the end, we had more luck and better swims than they did."
 
In the Pool
The Utah women ran away from the Cougars and hid and in a meet with 16 women's events, the Utes occupied each of the top three spots in seven of them.
 
Eight different Utah swimmers collected at least one victory and Summer Stanfield and Norah Hay made multiple trips to the winner's circle. Stanfield's first success came in the 200 free, which she finished in 1:52.03, then she topped the field in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.12 before winning the 200 individual medley in 2:03.74. Stanfield also started the day by teaming up with Hay, Hilja Schimmel and Reagan Cathcart to put up the fastest time in the women's 400 medley relay.
 
Hay's first individual victory came in the 100 backstroke, where she clocked in at 55.99. Soon after, she was back in the pool to collect first place in the 200 back in 1:59.40. The list of Utah victors on the women's side also included Marlene Sandberg, who bested her competition in the 1650 free to finish in 17:30.11, Alyssa Sorensen, with a time of 1:03.02 in the 100 breaststroke, Sadie Edwards, who touched in 2:07.41 in the 200 fly, Cathcart, who secured the 50 free in 23.69, Maddie Woznick, who swam into first in the 100 free in 52.43 and Charity Pittard, who won the 200 breast in 2:17.89. Woznick, Cathcart, Katie Hale and Erin Palmer also teamed up to come out on top in the women's 200 free relay.
 
In the men's events, Evan VanBrocklin made his presence felt with a trio of triumphs, the first one in the 200 fly, which he finished in 1:48.65. The freshman from Salt Lake City was back atop the podium thanks to a mark of 4:33.65 in the 500 free and his day concluded when he snagged the 200 IM in 1:51.21.
 
The squad's first individual win came courtesy of Marko Kovacic and his time of 1:38.82 in the 200 free, followed by Andrei Ungur's first place effort of 48.95 in the 100 back. Finn O'Haimhirgin outswam the field in the 100 free in 45.94 and Jaek Horner paced the field in the 200 breast, clocking in at 2:03.49. The quartet of Ungur, Horner, Kovacic and O'Haimhirgin captured the 400 medley relay and Ungur, O'Haimhirgin, Horner and JP Hynes put the day's final points on the board with a first-place effort in the 200 free relay.
 
On the Boards
After starting the meet with first place finishes by Holly Waxman and Elias Petersen on Friday, the Utah divers picked up where they left off and it started with the women's 1m. Once again, it was Waxman who emerged victorious, piling up 309.45 points for her second win in as many days. That score also goes down as her highest ever and the second-best in Utah history.
 
Kathryn Grant did outstanding work in the 1m as well, posting a mark of 283.05, a personal-best that puts her 10th in the program record book and surpassed the NCAA Championship qualifying standard. Lexi Mills joined Waxman and Grant in reaching the NCAA benchmark and took third in the competition with 270.75 points.
 
The men's 3m came down to the very last dive and it was Luke McDivitt who came through in the clutch to come out on top. His 386.75 was the highest by a Ute in the 3m so far in 2022-23 and put him 14 points clear of second place. In third was Ben Smyth with 368.50 points, a performance good enough to put him seventh in that event all-time and Elias Petersen improved on his personal-best score with 368.50 points. The fourth Ute to surpass the NCAA qualifying mark in the 3m was Jenner Pennock at 336.40.
 
"That was amazing," said diving coach Richard Marschner. "That was one of the most exciting meets I've been part of. It's so much fun when you've got all the swimmers here and the stands are packed and you're seeing person after person from Utah and BYU hit dive after dive. Nobody backed down and to have a person like Luke come through in such a big way is why you coach. You love to see that happen to a person like Luke."
 
Looking Ahead
February for Utah's divers begins with the Air Force Diving Invitational on Feb. 2-4, while the squad's male swimmers will set their sights on a Feb. 10 trip to USC.
 
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