Swimming and Diving in First at MWC Championships

Wednesday, February 22

Oklahoma City, Okla.

All Day

University of Utah

MWC Championships

Swimming and Diving in First at MWC Championships

2/22/2006 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Feb. 22, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Both the Utah's men's and women's team lead the field with 104 and 105 points, respectively, after day one at the Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at Oklahoma City Community College.

"We feel very good about how we performed today," said Head Coach Michael Litzinger. "We're excited to get the meet underway. This is the best we've ever started out as a team and we're looking forward to tomorrow."

The Utes won their first 200 medley title as members of the MWC after finishing no higher than third in the previous six years.

Leah Jensen, Amber Walter, Jennifer Fredsall and Amy Barefield set a new MWC all-time record and a new Utah school record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 42.21 seconds, which is also a NCAA `B' cut. The Utes won their first 200 medley title as members of the MWC after finishing no higher than third in the previous six years.

The men's 800 free relay team of Jonathan Larsen, Jeremy Clark, Andrew Cole and George Evans set a new Utah school record of 6 minutes, 38.56 seconds, breaking the previous record which was set in 1984.

Sterling Richards and Kelsey Patterson won the men's and women's 1-meter diving event, respectively. Richards won his first 1-meter diving crown with a score of 318.55 after finishing as the runner-up in the 2004 and 2005 championship. Patterson tallied 284.35 points to claim her first 1-meter diving title after finishing second last year. Anna Braszkewicz finished eighth in the event with a score of 243.55 points.

In the women's 800 free relay, Alison McInturff, Shannon McQueen, Adrienne Coburn and Rachael Curci finished second with a time of 7 minutes, 26.39 seconds. In the men's 200 medley relay, David Johnson, Michel DeCarolis, Andrew Brown and David Maasberg finished fifth with a time of 1 minute, 32.52 seconds.

BYU trails the Utes in men's action with 94 points, followed by Wyoming (92), TCU (87), UNLV (80) and Air Force (78). The Cougar women hold the No. 2 spot in the women's events with 94, followed by TCU (77), Colorado State (74), UNLV (71), Wyoming (70), New Mexico (65), Air Force (45) and San Diego State (44).

Day two events begin Thursday, Feb. 22, with preliminary events at 10 a.m. CST and finals competition at 6 p.m. The MWC Swimming & Diving Championships conclude Saturday, Feb. 25, following the 6 p.m. finals events and the announcement of the individual and team awards.

-UU-