BYU at SU Final Results

SEATTLE – Three broken pool records and a sweep combined for the BYU men’s swimming team’s 155-49 win over Seattle Saturday.

“This meet gave our swimmers the chance to swim some of the events they don’t usually get to,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “It really paid off because we won every single event. It was also a great bonding experience for the guys before conference.”

Swimming

The 400 medley relay team of Rainer Ng, Chad Sorensen, Lucas Aquino and Jake Taylor swam the event in 3:21.52 to break the previous pool record. Ng also broke a pool record of his own in the 500 free, completing the event in 4:35.67. In exhibition, Hayden Palmer finished the 200 IM in 1:51.62 to break the third pool record of the night.

The Cougars swept Seattle in all of the events, the first sweep of the 2013-2014 season.

Dallin Johnson swam the men’s 1000 free in 9:56.01 for the first solo win of the night.

Stott Bushnell, McKay King and Aquino went first, second and third in the men’s 200 free. They finished in 1:42.50, 1:42.62, 1:44.66, respectively.

Jordan Fletcher was the top finisher in the men’s 50 free. He swam the down and back in just 20.74.

BYU swept first through third again in the men’s 200 IM. Taylor was the top finisher with a time of 1:52.95. Teammates Andrew Rutherfurd (1:54.18) and Sorensen (1:59.02) followed.

Aquino earned his solo win of the night in the 200 fly, swimming the event in 1:52.70.

King, Rutherfurd and Fletcher were the top three swimmers in the men’s 100 free. King finished first with a time of 46.58.

Taylor earned first place in the men’s 200 backstroke. He finished in 1:51.77 with teammate Stephen Richards close behind (1:52.99).

Rutherfurd finished in first place in the men’s 200 breast with a time of 2:07.22. Sorensen followed close behind in 2:07.29.

With a strong end to the meet, King, Ng, Rafael Alfaro and Palmer swam the men’s 400 free in 3:06.62, three seconds before Seattle for the win.

Diving

At the Air Force Academy over the weekend, the men’s team had three top-10 finishes in the men’s 3-meter finals. Nicholas Suder finished in fourth with a score of 355.00. Freshman Bryce Farabee took sixth with a score of 334.60. And in ninth place was Edward Young who score 305.55 points.

Suder also finished fourth as the top BYU finalist in the men’s 1-meter. He scored a total 323.25 points in the event.

For the women’s team, MacKenzie Rands as the top BYU finalist scoring 280.50 points for eight place in the women’s 3-meter. Teammate Raleigh Willams Taylor finished tenth with a score of 278.55

Willams Taylor was the only Cougar to place in the women’s 1-meter, taking 10th again with 258.70 points. 

The men's team and divers now prepare for conference championships that begin Feb. 14. The MPSF Swiming Championships are held at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif. The MPSF Diving Championships are held at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena Calif. 

PROVO, Utah – After just a short week of practice, BYU diving travels to Colorado for the Air Force Invite Friday and Saturday, and BYU men’s swimming hits the road to face Seattle Saturday in their last regular-season meets.

Air Force

The invite begins Friday at 9:30 a.m. MST at the Cadet Natatorium with the women’s 1-meter preliminaries and the men’s 3-meter preliminaries at 2:25 p.m. Saturday’s event will begin at 9 a.m. with the men’s 1-meter preliminaries and the women’s 3-meter preliminaries at 11:25 a.m.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the divers because its more challenging than even our conference championships," head diving coach Keith Russell said. "It's a good opportunity to get some experience and I'm expecting them to get out there and do what they can do."

A total of 16 schools will compete in the invitational. Eight schools will compete in the men’s competitions, and all 16 schools will compete in the women’s.  Some of BYU’s former competition from the season will make an appearance including Air Force, Denver, UNLV and New Mexico.

Last weekend against Utah, junior Nicholas Suder and freshman Bryce Farabee placed second in the men’s 1-meter (312.90) and 3-meter (310.88), respectively. Last year Suder was the top-qualifying diver, placing fourth in the finals (313.00). For the women’s team, senior Raleigh Williams Taylor placed third in the women’s 1-meter (258.45).

Seattle

The men’s swimming team will compete in its last meet before the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

“This is a meet where we are fine tuning our events before conference,” Brooks said. “Some of our swimmers will swim some events they don’t usually get to swim. And most of the returned missionaries are starting to take shape towards conference.”

The Cougars last faced the Redhawks in 2010, when the men’s team dominated Seattle 195-96. Sophomores McKay King, Dallin Johnson, Stephen Richards, Chad Sorensen and Jake Taylor all competed in that meet prior to serving missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Taylor (100 back) and Sorensen (100 and 200 breast) each recorded wins last weekend against Utah. Freshman Rainer Ng (200 fly) and senior captain Jordan Fletcher (100 fly) were also victorious for the Cougars. These athletes look to remain hot and help lead the men’s team to another dominating victory against Seattle.

The meet will begin at noon PST at the Archbishop Connolly Center. For results, visit the men’s swimming and diving home page following the meet.