Swimmers Dominate Seattle University

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PROVO -- The BYU swim team returned to the pool Saturday and defeated Seattle University for their second win this weekend.

“All of our swimmers competed really well and we’re starting to get some great times,” BYU head coach Tim Powers said. “The team is right where I expect them to be. We’ve been swimming really well, but there’s always room to improve. We’re training really hard right now and doing what we can to prepare for Finals.”

The first event of the day began with the team of Aleesha Miller, Candice Smith, Sara Jayne Baldwin and Kim Welch taking the win for BYU in the 400 medley relay with their time of 1:45.54. BYU teams also took the second and third place finish with times of 1:46.69 and 1:49.22.

BYU had a 1-2 sweep in the same event with the men’s team of Jake Taylor, Chad Sorenson, Ryan Krause and Christian Keil taking first with their time of 1:32.41. Second and third place times were 1:34.12 from a BYU team and 1:34.47 from a Seattle team.

Freshman Allie Dodds finished first in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:35.78, while Marnie Knoop and Michelle Menezes took second and third with times of 10:50.55 and 11:04.17.

Senior John Kendrick touched in at first in the same event with a time of 9:48.75 with Dallin Johnson behind him at 9:54.31.

In the women’s 200 free, Hayley Cobb of Seattle finished first with a time of 1:55.54 while Alicia Watkins and Smith placed second and third with their times of 1:56.47 and 1:57.11, respectively.

For the men, BYU gained a 1-2-3 sweep with Keil taking first with his time of 1:43.01, Robbie Miner in second with 1:45.47 and Chad Fond in third with 1:45.85.

In the 100 backstroke, freshman Kim Welch recorded a first place time of 58.60 while Londyn Clawson followed her at 1:00.51. Jake Taylor of the men’s team took first in the same event with his time of 49.97, while Seattle’s Nic Morrell placed second with a time of 52.34.

Kassy Bispo and Aleesha Miller took second and third in the 100 breast with times of 1:06.59 and 1:06.94. First place went to Seattle’s Alexis Morehouse.

For the men, Chad Sorenson touched in at first with his time of 58.71 while Brady Wells followed him at 59.80 for second.

BYU’s Amanda Heninger grabbed first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.1 while Alicia Watkins and Allie Dodds came in second and third with times of 2:09.98 and 2:14.75, respectively.

Seattle’s Thomas Mendez-Beck took first in the same event with his time of 1:56.41. Rafael Alfaro finished second with his time of 1:57.50 while Kendrick took third at 1:57.57.

Sam Crist and Anglea Bennion touched in at a close first and second in the 50 free with times of 24.72 and 24.73. Seattle’s Jordan Anderson and Jeff Tibbals took first and second in the men’s heat with their times of 20.78 and 21.52.

In the women’s 100 free, Welch finished first with 52.97 while Menezes followed her at 54.90 for second. Anderson of Seattle took first for the men with 54.92 while BYU’s Keil placed second with 46.38.

BYU’s women gained a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 backstroke with Rachel Grant placing first with 2:05.32, Erin Pabst in second with 2:08.31 and Clawson in third with 2:10.04. Taylor finished first for the men with 1:51.96 while Stephen Richards came up second with 1:54.20.

In the 200 breastsroke, Baldwin took first for the women with a time of 2:19.71 while the men had another 1-2-3 sweep. Chad Sorenson placed first with 2:10.00, Alfaro took second with 2:10.07 and Wells gained third with 2:13.04.

Alina Fong touched in with a first place time of 5:12.44 in the women’s 500 free while Seattle’s Morrell took first for the men with his time of 4:45.34.

BYU women gained a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the 100 butterfly with freshman Jessica Ampureo taking first with 57.62, Meagan Stone in second with 58.14, Daniele Vaughn in third with 58.46 and Amanda Heninger in fourth with her time of 59.13.

The men’s team was just as successful in the same event, with BYU swimmers taking the first three spots. Jordan Fletcher finished first with 51.82, Mckay King took second with 52.21, and Krause grabbed third with 53.28.

Aleesha Miller took the first place win in the 200 IM with her time of 2:12.00, while Stephen Richards placed first for the men with his time of 1:56.54.

The last race of the meet was yet another success for BYU as both the men’s and women’s teams took first in the 400 free relay.

The team consisting of Taryn Toolson, Grant, Baldwin and Miller gained a time of 3:30.49 while the men’s team of Taylor, Keil, Daniel Bates and Kendrick touched in at 3:04.33.

The Cougars are set to train in California over Christmas break before their next competition against the women of CSU at Ft. Collins on Jan. 15 and Air Force at home on Jan.20.