Evan VanBrocklin Wins Three Events As Utah Sweeps LSU In Home Opener

Utah vs. LSU

• October 7, 2023
• Ute Natatorium, Salt Lake City, UT
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results
• Scores
  • Women: Utah 167.5, LSU 132.5
  • Men: Utah 156, LSU 144

The Louisiana State Tigers made the trip up north to Salt Lake City to take on Utah this past Saturday. Utah came away with victories on both sides, topping the LSU men by 12 points and the #23-ranked women by 35 points.

Men’s Recap

LSU opened the meet strong, winning five events before the first diving break. The Tigers swept both relays, beginning with the 200 medley relay team of Griffin Curtis (23.13), Mitchell Mason (24.72), Pawel Uryniuk (21.92), and Jere Hribar (19.43), who touched 1st at 1:29.20. 

Jacob Pishko, a transfer from Louisville, kept things rolling for the Tigers with a victory in the 1000. He dominated the event, going a 9:28.91 to clear the field by nearly ten seconds. Pishko completed his distance freestyle sweep with a 4:32.06 in the 500, as well as posted a 1:49.94 to take the runner-up spot in the 200 fly. 

Other highlights for LSU included Mitchell Mason, who captured both breaststroke races (55.17 and 2:03.19), and Griffin Curtis, who completed the backstroke sweep with times of 50.09 and 1:47.65). 

Utah’s Jakub Walter picked up the Utes’ 1st victory in the 200 freestyle with a 1:39.46, narrowly out-touching LSU’s Andrew Garon (1:39.54). 

The momentum continued with sophomore Evan VanBrocklin, who added three wins for Utah. He opened with a 1:49.78 in the 200 fly, closely followed by a 45.26 to take the 100 freestyle. He closed things out with a final victory in the 200 IM, going a 1:51.22 as Kelson Flynn got his hand on the wall 2nd (1:52.63) to make it a 1-2 Utah finish. 

The diving events were another strong point for the Utes, with Elias Peterson winning both 1-meter (325.88) and 3-meter (372.98).

Other Event Winners:

• 50 freestyle – Jere Hribar (LSU), 20.29
• 100 butterfly – Ethan Smith (Utah), 49.38
• 400 freestyle relay – LSU (Garon, Hribar, Casey, Percinic), 3:01.38

Women’s Recap

Similar to the men’s meet, the Tigers were strong in the front half of the schedule, but Utah had a better back half to win the meet.

The Utes dominated the 1000, as freshman Claire Dafoe led a 1-4 finish with a time of 10:25.22. Dafoe, a freshman, completed the distance freestyle sweep with her second victory coming in the 500 (5:02.41), which was also a 1-3 Utah podium.

Graduate student Summer Stanfield was another multiple-event winner for Utah. Stanfield took 1st in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.34, leading her teammate Norah Hay by nearly two seconds (2:02.11). Stanfield also decisively won the final individual event, the 200 IM, clocking a 2:04.44 to clear the field by over three seconds. 

The Utah women ended the meet on a high note as the team of Erin Palmer (50.65), Madeline Woznick (50.85), Reagan Cathcart (51.24), and Lily Milner (51.25) took 1st in the 400 freestyle relay (3:23.99). 

Notably, Palmer’s lead-off split of 50.65 marked a new personal best. She also had a fantastic swim in the 100 breaststroke, going a 1:03.05 to win the event by over two and half seconds. 

Katarina Milutinovich was the only double winner for LSU. The fifth-year graduate student got her hand on the wall 1st in the 100 backstroke at 55.90, then went on to capture the 100 freestyle in 51.25.

Milutinovich was also the backstroker (26.02) on LSU’s winning 200 medley relay, where she teamed up with Tatum Detwiler (29.47), Maddie Howell (25.01), and Michaela de Villiers (22.72). De Villers went on to capture the 50 freestyle, going a 23.62 to lead the field by a tenth.

The 200 fly was another strong point for LSU, with Sofia Sartori leading a 1-2 finish in 2:03.28, while her teammate Jenna Bridges was just behind in 2:03.67. 

The diving on the women’s side was also dominated by Utah. Holly Waxman, a junior, scored 306.75 points in the 1-meter event, while sophomore Kathryn Grant secured 1st on 3-meter with 292.58 points.

Other Event Winners:

• 200 freestyle – Megan Barnes (LSU), 1:54.16
• 200 breaststroke – Krystal Lieu (Utah), 2:22.59
• 100 fly – Hannah Bellina (LSU), 57.64

LSU Release

Courtesy of LSU Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY – Despite falling to the University of Utah in the opening dual meet of the LSU swimming and diving season, the Tigers put forward incredible performances Saturday morning inside the Ute Natatorium.

LSU, which is coming off two top-16 finishes in the NCAA Championships, has shown continuous improvement throughout head coach Rick Bishop’s re-tooling of the program. With the addition and expertise of diving coach Drew Livingston, LSU expects to compete at a high level each time out.

Against Utah, LSU got off to a fast start winning 10 of the first 14 events prior to the first diving break. The Tigers won both 200-yard medley relays, which included 6-8 Croatian swimmer Jere Hribar serving as the men’s final leg and overtaking the lead in the final 25 yards for the victory.

In the distance events, Jacob Pishko shined, picking up his first individual win as a Tiger, winning the 1000-yard free with a time of 9:28.91. Pishko also touched the wall first in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking a time of 4:32.06.

During LSU’s strong first half of the meet, the Tigers got wins in the 200-yard freestyle from Megan Barnes. Katarina Milutinovich and Griffin Curtis got back-to-back wins in the 100-yard backstroke with respective times of 55.90 and 50.09. Miluttinovich and Curtis also won the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke events, respectively.

Team captain Mitch Mason won both breaststroke events with winning times of 55.17 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 2:03.19 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Sofia Sartori took first place in the 200-yard butterfly (2:03.28), while Hannah Bellina picked up the win in the 100-yard butterfly (57.64).

Hribar and Michaela de Villiers each won the 50-yard freestyle with respective times of 20.29 and 23.62.

On the boards, LSU and Utah competed on the springboards. On one-meter Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant and Zayne Danielewicz finished in second place with respective scores of 304.20 and 288.23. Helle Tuxen claimed third with a score of 288.15, and Maggie Buckley placed fifth with a score of 250.58. Carson Paul and Thomas Dowling rounded out the men’s side on one-meter.

On three-meter, Gutierrez Lavenant collected another second-place finish with a score of 260.63 with Tuxen placing third and Buckley claiming sixth. On the men’s side, Paul came in second with a score of 370.50 with Danielewicz (3rd) and Dowling (5th) rounding out the total of six divers who competed.

LSU returns to action Thursday, October 12, when the women’s swimming and diving program takes on Arkansas at 1 p.m. CT inside the LSU Natatorium.

Utah Release

Courtesy of Utah Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah swimming and diving team racked up 16 victories, including six of the final seven events, to come away with a pair of victories over the LSU Tigers, winning 157-132 on the women’s side and 156-144 in the men’s competition on Saturday afternoon at the Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.

“I feel really good about how we performed today,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “It was a great meet. It wasn’t a perfect meet. We certainly have a lot of things we can do better, but overall, the way we competed today, the way we approached the meet, the way the team came together and the culture and the atmosphere, the unselfish approach to the win, that was impressive today.” 

In the Pool

The squad’s long list of victors started with freshman Claire Dafoe, who made her team’s first trip of the day to the winner’s circle with a time of 10:25.22, good enough for first place in the women’s 1000 free and she later pocketed another victory, thanks to a mark of 5:03.41 in the women’s 500 free.

Utah’s second win of the day came courtesy of Jakub Walter and his time of 1:39.46 in the men’s 200 free and Erin Palmer nabbed the top spot in the women’s 100 breast, clocking in at 1:03.05. The Utes’ next two victories on the swimming side were both by Evan VanBrocklin, first in the 200 fly, where he finished in 1:49.78, and again in the 100 free, where he touched in 45.26. Summer Stanfield kept the home team’s momentum intact by besting the field in the 200 back in 2:00.34 and Krystal Lieu collected another first-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:22.59.

An Ethan Smith triumph in the men’s 100 fly sparked Utah’s red-hot finish and, after Kathryn Grant and Elias Petersen put the day’s last two diving events in Utah’s column, Stanfield and VanBrocklin gave the Utes a sweep of the 200 individual medley. Palmer, Maddie Woznick, Reagan Cathcart and Lily Milner recorded Utah’s final win of the afternoon, clocking in at 3:23.99 in the women’s 400 free relay.

On the Boards

The Utes dominated the day’s diving competitions, with Petersen posting the top score in the men’s 1m and 3m, while Holly Waxman earned the top spot in the women’s 1m and Grant bested the field in the women’s 3m.

Waxman got her day started by piling up 306.75 points in the 1m to narrowly edge LSU’s Montserrat Lavenant and rise to the top of the leaderboard. Grant joined Waxman in posting an NCAA Automatic Qualifying mark in the 1m at 286.13. Another auto score was crafted by Petersen in the men’s 1m, where his total of 325.88 outpaced all four competitors. 

The women’s 3m was Grant’s time to shine and she did just that, registering over 30 more points than her closest pursuer for a sum of 292.58, her second automatic qualifying performance of the afternoon. Petersen completed a Utah sweep on the boards with his second auto mark of the afternoon, picking up 372.98 points to place first again.

“The diving was fantastic today,” said head diving coach Richard Marschner. “LSU’s a top 10 or top five team in diving. They have multiple NCAA qualifiers and we stepped up and rose to the challenge. Elias got severely injured in warmups and came back to win both events, which he probably had no business doing. Kathryn stepped up big time on her worst event against three NCAA qualifiers and got the win for us when we really needed it with a few things not going our way. Holly proved why she’s an All-American on the 1m, stepped up there and beat out a really tough group of girls. Overall, thrilled with the meet and really looking forward to building on this momentum.”

Looking Ahead

Utah’s divers will be competing against Arizona on Oct. 10, while Utah’s swimmers will have their next chance to compete on Oct. 21 at the MPSF Open Water Swimming Championships.