Second day with six wins to lift BYU over Utah, Air Force and Colorado Mesa

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado– Tiare Coker and Preston Jenkins led the BYU swim and dive team winning five of the six events the  en route to dual victories over Utah, Colorado Mesa and Air Force on Saturday at the Intermountain Shootout.

"The meet went really well for the second day," said BYU coach John Brooks. "Tiare Coker, Lauren Taylor, and Preston Jenkins definitely highlighted the meet with their performances.  We had a very good showing from our team, top to bottom with lots of improvements from day one to day two."

Dual victories were registered by BYU’s men’s team over the University of Utah (197-180) and Colorado Mesa (264-126), but U.S. Air Force bested the Cougars, 241-149. Three victories were claimed by the BYU women’s team, beating U. S. Air Force (208.50-184.50), University of Utah ( 270-115) and Colorado Mesa (286-107), but fell to Liberty University (273-99).

Coker, a freshman from La Crescenta, California, had a successful meet, winning the women’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.96. Just four events later, she won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.56.

Jenkins contributed to the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay win, swimming a lead of 21.13. Teammates Roger Woods, Kent Fellows, and Payton Sorenson helped achieve the 1:22.17 final time. Jenkins followed with an additional victory in the men’s 200-yard individual medley with a 1:53.09 time. He finished the day with his third win in the men’s 200-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 1:50.75. He was followed about three seconds later by teammate Ethan Kramer, a freshman from Flower Mound, Texas. Kramer finished second with a time of 1:53.43

Several second-place individual events were achieved by various members of the team. Lauren Shaw Taylor, MPSF/Turbo Athlete of the Week, took second in the women’s 200-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 2:04.22. Sorenson competed in the men’s 100-yard freestyle event, finishing in 45.51. Just shy of the win for the women’s 200-yard individual medley, Riley Merrill had a time of 2:07.88.

The men’s diving team swept the 1-meter diving event, claiming the top four scores. Matt Denkers won the event with a score of 283.95. Following in chronological order were teammates Eric Muir (274.20), Trayton Speth (267.10) and Kevin Dreesen (266.75).

Competing in the women’s 3-meter diving event, Erica Lienhard and Kaitlyn Abernathy took seventh and eighth over-all, with scores of 199.40 and 197.30.

"I am very happy with the divers and how they settled into the second day of competition," BYU diving coach Tyce Rouston said. "They focused more on our game plan for the beginning of our season and they performed assertively. The men swept one through four, with Matt Denkers winning both boards and freshman Eric Muir securing second. The women's event all around was a much stronger field and the BYU women were very consistent. 'Keyka' Lienhard was our top performer and is getting stronger this early compared to last season. I am excited to see their progress and I see potential for our next meet." 

After a successful competition, the Cougars return home and prepare to take on Arizona State on Saturday, October 22, starting at 11 a.m., MDT. For more information, please visit the BYU swim and dive schedule page.