Utah Swimming & Diving Finishes Fifth at MWC Championships

Saturday, February 26

Oklahoma City, Okla.

All Day

University of Utah

MWC Championships

Utah Swimming & Diving Finishes Fifth at MWC Championships

2/26/2011 12:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Feb. 26, 2011

Results

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The 2011 Mountain West Conference Championships came to a close on Saturday night at the OCCC Aquatics Center. The men and women of the University of Utah swimming and diving team each claimed fifth place overall with respective final scores of 471 and 443.

"I couldn't be more proud of how the kids swam," said head coach Greg Winslow. "This is the most competitive we have ever been. We finally got our team to the point where we have the confidence to compete against anyone."

The UNLV men earned their seventh consecutive MWC title (770.5) while the SDSU women earned their very first conference title (646). On the men's side, BYU (672), Wyoming (594.5), and TCU (497.5) followed in the rankings while the SDSU women were followed by BYU (562), Wyoming (524), and UNLV (448) who was only five points ahead of the Ute women.

In the preliminaries of the 200 breast, Garrett Peterson broke the school record with an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 1:59.19. In the finals, Peterson placed sixth with another NCAA "B" cut time (1:59.86). Corey Williams earned 15th place in the final heat as well (2:05.01).

Both Garret Beaman and Brent Murray are tied for the sixth-fastest time in school history in the 100 free. In the preliminary round, Beaman posted a time of 44.45 whereas Murray touched in that same time in the final heat to place fifth. Beaman earned eighth place in the final round (44.79) and Bjorn Gunnarsson finished in 13th (45.45).

Beaman, Murray, Karson Applin, and Gunnarson broke the 12-year old school record in the 400 free relay when they posted an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 2:57.95 to earn second place. They beat the previous school record by a second.

Major Robinson earned fifth place in the 200 back with a time of 1:47.24 and Austin Fiascone rounded out the top 16 (1:52.16).

In the 200 fly, Eric Bonicelli finished seventh (1:53.29) while Luke Donohue placed 10th with a personal best time (1:51.37).

On the platform dive, Nelson Foo earned the silver medal with a finals score of 297.20. He broke the school record in the dive by 28 points. Brandon Stoppelmoor scored 249.55 to place eighth.

During the preliminary round of the 100 free, Traycie Swartz broke the school record with a third-place time of 49.57. Natalie Edge, who finished fourth, posted a lifetime best and the third-fastest in school history (49.71). In the final heat, Natalie Edge placed fourth with an NCAA "B" cut time of 50.02 while Traycie Swartz earned sixth place (50.29).

Hannah Caron was the runner-up in the 200 fly with an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 1:58.40, which is the second-fastest in school history. Jana Willsey, who placed 10th, swam the fourth-fastest time ever by a Ute woman (2:02.70). Sarah Boylen also swam Utah's ninth-fastest time when she placed 19th in the preliminary rounds (2:05.20). Each time was a personal best for Caron, Willsey, and Boylen.

Danielle Caldwell placed 15th in the 200 back finals (2:04.68). Alyssa Woodliff swam the ninth-fastest time in school history when she placed 18th in the preliminary round (2:04.55).

Maiya Otsuka earned eighth place in the 200 breast (2:16.97) while Nicole Ligeza placed 12th, touching in the seventh-fastest time ever by a Ute woman (2:20.21).

The last race of the championships for the women was the 400 free relay, where Edge, Kristina Evans, Caron, and Traycie Swartz swam an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 3:18:87 to take first place. Their winning time was one-tenth of a second off of the all-time conference championship record.

At the end of the 2011 MWC Championships, Edge was honored with the MWC Senior Recognition Award.

"We'll miss our seniors. They did a great job and mean a lot to our program," said Winslow. "They are onto bigger and better things after this but they will always be a part of our family."

Next week, the top swimmers and divers in the MWC will be selected to compete at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis. The NCAA Zone E Diving Championships are from March 10 - 12. The NCAA Women's Championships will be held from March 17 - 19 and the NCAA Men's Championships will take place March 24 - 26.

"We're excited for our next step going into the Pac-10," said Winslow. "This meet showed our athletes that we can step into that conference with confidence."

-UU-