Brad Prolo Sets BYU School Record in Virtual Meet Against Cal Poly

Brigham Young v. Cal Poly (Virtual)

• October 31, 2020
• Dual meet format (virtual)
• SCY
• Full Results
• Unscored

In a virtual format that figures to be pretty common this season, the Brigham Young Cougars and the Cal Poly Mustangs squared off against each from their own team pools’ yesterday. No scores were reported, but BYU took 24 of the 32 events, including all 4 relays by fairly wide margins.

The most notable swim came from BYU sophomore Brad Prolo, who broke the school record in the 200 fly with a time of 1:45.55. The previous record was a 1:45.91 set by Hayden Palmer in 2014. Provo competed for the Cougars as a freshman during the 2017-2018 season, where he was 1:49.06,  before taking a two year break and returning this season. His previous lifetime best was a 1:48.12, done back in the spring of 2017.

Brigham Young Release

PROVO, Utah – It’s not often you can compete in Division I athletics against an opponent hundreds of miles away, but that’s what the BYU swim and dive program did to open the 2020-21 season on Saturday against Cal Poly.

The Cougars and Mustangs faced off but did so swimming in each program’s home pool in a virtual meet. The squads then compared times, including adjusting BYU’s for altitude, to determine placements.

“It was so great to have everybody racing again,” said BYU swim coach John Brooks. “Josue Dominguez broke a pool record and Brad Prolo broke a team record. On the women’s side, Gwen Gustafson swam really well along with co-captain Brynn Sproul and Charlotte Fieeiki.”

“The team did really well for a new style of virtual meet,” added BYU dive coach Tyce Routson. “It was great to have the support of family members attending to help the divers focus and kick off our season.”

Women’s Competition

Gustafson took the 50 free title with a time of 23.54, then won the 100 free as well in 52.61.

Sproul took the 100 backstroke, edging Fieeiki 56.39 to 56.86, then easily won the 500 free by five seconds with a time of 5:01.99. Fieeiki came back to win the 100 butterfly at 57.25.

Sophomore Katie McBratney cruised to victory in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:03.11 and added another commanding win in the 400 IM, taking first six seconds before the next swimmer.

Competing in her first meet, freshman Rivers Johnson placed first in the 200 backstroke with a 2:05.94. Sophomore Lily Plaudis added a win in the 200 breaststroke while sophomore Jessica LeSueur added a victory in the 1,000 freestyle.

The Cougars also impressively took the top three spots in the 200 medley relay in addition to winning the 400 free relay.

All-American Kennedy Cribbs swept the diving events by winning the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions, surpassing NCAA qualifying scores in both.

Men’s Competition

Dominguez claimed the titles in the 100 breaststroke (53.25) and 200 breaststroke (1:58.84) while also helping the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay to victories as well.

Prolo set down a time of 1:45.55 in the 200 butterfly, setting a program record held previously by Hayden Palmer at 1:45.91 in 2014.

Sophomore Tama Tuitama took first in the 200 free with a time of 1:39.93 while sophomore Tyler Edlefsen ran away with the 400 IM crown. Junior Javier Nicolas Matta, junior Jared Shaw and Tuitama also finished 1-2-3 in the 100 freestyle for the Cougars.

In the diving events, reigning MPSF Diver of the Year Mickey Strauss easily won the 3-meter competition with a score of 342.80, an NCAA qualifying score, while also claiming the 1-meter title by just over seven points with a 289.65.

BYU will next compete in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. MT against Colorado Mesa and Dixie State.

Cal Poly Release

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — For the first time in eight months, the Cal Poly men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were able to compete again, just in a different kind of way. In what was a first for the Mustangs, their opponent was in another state hundreds of miles away in Utah as Cal Poly competed in a virtual dual meet against BYU.

On Saturday, the two programs each competed at their own facility, with the Mustangs swimming and diving at Anderson Aquatics Center in San Luis Obispo and the Cougars at their facility in Provo, Utah. The two teams then compared times, including adjusting BYU’s for altitude, to determine placement.

“It was so nice to be back to doing what we love to do – competing,” said first year head coach Phil Yoshida. “Even though we were separated by hundreds of miles, the fact that we were ranking our performance against an opponent gave an atmosphere of competition that had been missing for the last eight months. A big thank you to our administration and trainers for helping make this happen.”

On the men’s side for Cal Poly, highlights included freshman Kieran McNulty winning the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:24.42 as well as the 500 free with a time of 4:38.28. Junior Gennady Sytnik took first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 50.46 before later also winning the 200 back with a time of 1:51.81. Sophomore Brandon Toland won the 50 free with a time of 20.91 and sophomore Garrison Price won the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.24.

On the women’s side for the Mustangs, it was the newcomers who shined as freshman Lauren Gleason won the 200 free with a time of 1:56.02. Freshman Alexa Porter won the 200 fly with a time of 2:10.35. Freshman Katie Faris finished second in the 100 free with a time of 50.11 and freshman Bella Bram took second in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:43.04.