Cougars Capture Deseret Duel Victory

SALT LAKE -- Winning the last dual meet of the 2010-2011 season, BYU's men and women’s swim and dive team defeated Utah Friday night at the Ute Natatorium.

The BYU women finished at 161-139 against the Utes, while the men gained the victory at 156-143.

“Tonight was a classic BYU verses Utah meet,” BYU head coach Tim Powers said. “That last relay was a must win for the men and it was looking grim for a while there, but where we lacked in some races, we made up for in others."

The men’s relay team started the night strong with Jake Taylor, Chad Sorenson, Jordan Fletcher and Christian Keil grabbing first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:32.64.

In the women’s 1000 free, freshman Allie Dodds finished first with her time of 10:32.15, while Alina Fong touched in at second with 10:36.49.

For the men, John Kendrick grabbed second with his time of 9:42.42, while teammates Dallin Johnson and Robby Miner followed him for third and fourth at 9:51.61 and 10:13.08.

Rachel Grant received her first of three first-place finishes for the night in the 200 free with her time of 1:51.09.

Keil and Chad Fong touched in for second and third in the 200 free with times of 1:43.08 and 1:43.09, respectively.

Candice Smith and Erin Pabst also grabbed second and third place in the 100 backstroke with their times of 57.30 and 59.78.

Taylor reached his second of four first-place finishes in the 100 back with his time of 49.65.

Senior Sara Jayne Baldwin recorded a first-place time of 1:05.15 in the 100 breaststroke. For the men, Chad Sorenson touched in for first with his time of 57.74.

Grant seized the first place win in the 200 butterfly with her time of 2:01.08, while teammate Kim Welch grabbed third place at 2:06.45.

In the same event, Calvin Clark and Rafael Alfaro finished second and third for the Cougars with their times of 1:56.56 and 1:57.42.

Taryn Toolson and Aleesha Miller did the same in the women’s 50 free, grabbing second and third with times of 24.01 and 24.12, respectively.

Baldwin and Toolson touched in at second and third place with times of 52.19 and 52.71 in the women’s 100 free.

In the 200 back, Smith and Pabst had a 1, 2 sweep with Smith in first at 2:03.70 and Pabst in second with 2:05.89.

Taylor recorded another first place time ahead of the competition in the men’s 200 back with 1:50.98.

In the women’s 200 breast, Londyn Clawson and Kassy Bispo finished second and third for BYU with their times of 2:21.33 and 2:26.92.

Sorenson and Vytenis Slenys did the same for the men in the 200 breast with Sorenson coming in at second with 2:09.76 and Slenys in third with 2:11.13.

Dodds and Fong touched in at second and third in the women’s 500 free with their times of 5:07.55 and 5:09.38.

Kendrick swam a great race, touching in for first place in the 500 free at 4:36.11.

In the 100 fly, freshman Kim Welch recorded the second place finish with her time of 56.56. For the men, Jordan Fletcher also reached second at 51.54.

Grant finished first for the Cougars in the women’s 200 IM with at time of 2:03.68, while Baldwin touched in at third with her time of 2:05.52.

The men had a 1, 2, 3 sweep in the 200 IM with Taylor touching in at first with 1:52.89, Stephen Richards gaining second with 1:55.09 and Slenys finishing third at 1:55.64.

In the last event of the night, the women’s 400 free relay team took a close second-place to the Ute’s, finishing with a time of 3:30.79.

The men’s 400 free relay team of Keil, Brady Wells, Ryan Krause and Kendrick pulled off an amazing race and a first place finish at 3:05.17. After swimming neck and neck with the Ute relay team, the Cougar men pulled ahead and came out on top for the first place win that gave them the points they needed to win the meet.

Across the deck, Dayna Christensen took second in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 271.80, while Travis Day also grabbed second in the same event with his final score of 304.80.

In the 3-meter diving competition, Syrena Miskin finished second for the Cougars with her score of 292.50, while Day won the event for the men with his final score of 339.68.

The BYU swim team will now have two weeks of prep before heading to Oklahoma City for the Mountain West Conference Championships on Feb. 23-26.

The dual wins give BYU an 18-16 advantage over Utah in the Deseret First Duel standings as the Cougars picked up one point for each of the men's and women's team victories.