Men and women return with strong showing at Arena Invite

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The men’s and women’s swimming teams returned from the Arena Invitational this weekend with a strong showing. The men’s team finished in fifth place with 641 points and the women’s team finished in seventh with 466 against some of the top teams in the country.

“I thought our entire team swam really well,” head coach John Brooks said. “Many swam personal best and season best times. There were a variety of teams there and we were able to see a big improvement from last year. It was a break-through meet for our women’s team and I was really proud of all our relay teams.”

THURSDAY

In the first event of the weekend, both the men’s and the women’s 200 free relay made the finals. The women’s team of Taryn Toolson Lewis, Hailey Campbell, Alexandria Sorensen and Andrea Grant took seventh with a time of 1:33.66. The men’s team of Jordan Fletcher, Brent Murray, Payton Sorenson and Garret Beaman took second with a time of 1:20.48. Their time set a new school record.

Hayden Palmer and Preston Jenkins both made the finals in the 200 IM. Palmer finished in seventh with a time of 1:51.18 and Jenkins finished eighth with a time of 1:52.20.  

The men’s 400 medley relay team took second place in the final event of the day. The team consisting of Jenkins, Brady Wells, David Armstrong and Murray finished behind Stanford with a time of 3:16.81.

Following the first day of action, the men’s team was in third place with 229 points and the women’s team was in sixth with 152 points.

FRIDAY

Friday began very similar to Thursday. In the 200 medley relay, the women’s team of Campbell, Kimberly Welch Doroghian, Kassandra Bispo and Sorensen to seventh with a time of 1:43.37. The men’s team of Jenkins, Wells, Armstrong, and Murray took second with a time of 1:28.49.

Following the relay, the Cougars had both a swimmer in both the men’s and women’s final of the 400 IM. Alexandra Dodds placed eighth in with a time of 4:23.38 and Palmer took sixth with a time of 3:55.73.

Bispo and Wells both made the finals in the 100 breast. Bispo finished in seventh place with a time of 1:03.64 and Wells finished fifth with a time of 55.93.

In the next event, the 100 back, BYU had two swimmers make the finals. Campbell finished in eighth place with a time of 55.98. Jenkins finished in second place with a time of 47.86, qualifying with a b-cut time.

In the final event of the day, the men’s and women’s 800 free relay teams both finished eighth. The women’s team of Dodds, Alia Welsh, Angela Bennion and Natalie Bennion touched the wall at 7:30.71, and the men’s team of Stott Bushnell, Robert Miner, Samuel Bates and Jenkins finished with a time of 6:47.26.

After Friday’s events, the women’s team was in seventh place with 349 points and the men’s team was in fourth with 478 points.

SATURDAY

Londyn Clawson was the only individual swimmer to make a final on Saturday. Clawson took fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:16.12.

The men’s 400 free relay team finished second. The team consisting of Jenkins, Armstrong, Beaman and Murray finished with a time of 2:59.84.

BYU’s next meet is Dec. 8 in the Deseret First Duel against the University of Utah at 5 p.m. MST at the Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City, Utah.