MEET NOTES: Utah Swimming and Diving Take On The Sun Devils

On Your Mark
The Utah men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams will head to Tempe, Ariz., this Friday, Jan. 9 to face Arizona State in a Pac-12 dual-meet. The meet is scheduled to get underway at noon (MST) at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

Last Time Out
Both men’s and women’s teams are coming off great performances from the Texas Invitational back on Dec. 4-6 in Austin, Texas, where Utah set 31 NCAA “B-cut” standards (10 women, 21 men) over the three-day event and five different school records were recorded on the men’s side as well.

Utah had 27 top-10 finishes in final events, which included 10 top-five finishes as well.

On the men’s side, Alex Fernandes (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil) took second-place in the 100 fly with a time of 46.31 and Nick Soedel (Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) placed fifth overall in the 50 free with a time of 19.66 (19.58 prelims). Bence Kiraly (Jr., Szeged, Hungary) had a pair of top-five finishes after taking first in the 1,650 free (14:51.17) and fourth overall in the 500 free (4:17.40).

The men’s 800 freestyle relay team consisting of Soedel, Kiraly, Austin Phillips (Fr., Centennial, Colo.) and Kristian Kron (Jr., Handen, Sweden) took second-place with a time of 6:25.82, while the 400 medley relay team of Kron, Jack Burton (Fr., Ringwood, England), Fernandes and Soedel took fourth-place with a time of 3:12.90.

For the women, Maddie Jamora (Sr., Kapolei, Hawai’i) took fourth in the 50 free with a time of 22.67, while Stina Colleou (So., Oslo, Norway) took fifth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.98.

The women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Jamora, Dorien Butter (Fr., Cairo, Egypt), Rhianna Williams (So., Fort Collins, Colo.) and Giuliana Gigliotti (Sr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) took fourth-place with a time of 3:19.87 and the 800 freestyle relay team of Butter, Gigliotti, Maddie Meisel (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.) and Maryssa McArthur (Jr., Lakewood, Calif.) took fifth with a time of 7:19.30.

Utah Notes
The Utah men’s team is 6-0 overall and 1-0 in Pac-12 meets, while the women’s team is 3-4 overall and 0-3 against Pac-12 competition.

The Utah men have non-conference wins over Air Force (259-113), Colorado Mesa (297-67 and 179-101), BYU (236-136) and UNLV (192-102) with a Pac-12 win over Arizona (187-113), while the women’s squad have picked up non-conference victories over Colorado Mesa (314-60), BYU (291-83) and UNLV (208-91).

Arizona State Notes
The ASU men’s squad is 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils’ most recent meet resulted in a loss to UNLV, falling 185-109 to the Rebels in Las Vegas, Nev., back on Dec. 6, 2014. ASU dropped its only Pac-12 meet to USC, falling 165-125 to the Trojans back on Nov. 14, 2014, in Los Angeles, Calif. ASU’s non-conference wins came against Seattle University (118-84 and 124-76) in a two-day meet back on Oct. 24-25, 2014, in Seattle.

The ASU women’s team is 2-5 overall on the season, which includes a 1-3 record in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils are coming off back-to-back wins over UNLV (188-111) and Oregon State (153-100). ASU placed first in 12 of its 14 events against the Beavers this past Saturday, Jan. 3, in Tempe, Ariz.

ASU has a pair of swimmers on the men’s side that rank among the top-15 in the Pac-12 in both breaststroke events. Thibaut Capitaine currently ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in the 100 breast (53.97) and sixth in the 200 breast (1:58.06), while Christian Lorenz ranks 10th in the 100 breast (55.00) and eighth in the 200 breast (1:58.62). Tadas Duskinas ranks seventh in the 100 fly (47.03), while Zac Dalby ranks among the top-15 in both the 200 fly (1:47.37) and 400 IM (3:54.30) events.

On the women’s side, Anna Olasz ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in both the 1000 free (10:01.52) and 1650 free (16:21.21), while Jorie Caneta ranks sixth in the 100 breast (1:00.98) and ninth in the 200 breast (2:12.73) events. Kat Simonovic is a threat in the 500 free event as she currently ranks ninth in the Pac-12 with a time of 4:47.69.

Previous Meeting
Utah swept last season’s meeting against Arizona State with the women winning 159-137 and the men’s team coming up victorious with a score of 191-105.

The men’s squad picked up 10 first-place victories against ASU last season, while the women’s team tallied six first-place finishes. Nick Soedel swept both the 50 free (20.15) and 100 free (43.98) events, while Kristian Kron took top honors in both the 100 back (50.17) and 200 back (1:50.13) events as well. Kron took first in the 200 IM (1:51.91) and Bence Kiraly took first-place in the 200 free (1:40.00) and 500 free (4:40.51) events. Both men’s 200 medley (1:30.93) and 400 free (3:03.12) relay teams took top honors as well.

On the women’s side, Stina Colleou swept both breaststroke events, taking first in the 100 breast (1:04.43) and 200 breast (2:18.27), while Petra Soininen took top honors in the fly events (100, 56.12; 200, 2:02.95). Breanna Francis won the 200 IM (2:07.07) event and the 200 medley relay team took first-place (1:44.12) as well.

The Utah men’s team is a perfect 3-0 against ASU since joining the Pac-12 back in 2011-12, while the women’s squad is 1-2.

Soedel, Crayne Earn Pac-12 Monthly Honors
Utah’s Nick Soedel was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month and Jacob Crayne was tabbed the Pac-12 Diver of the Month back on Dec. 4, 2014.

Soedel’s honor is his first monthly award and the first swimmer of the month honor for Utah since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. Crayne’s honor is the first of his career, as well, and marks the second diver of the month honor for Utah.

What the Coaches are Saying – Utah Head Coach Joe Dykstra 

“We are looking forward to a great meet with Arizona State. Anytime we race a Pac-12 foe it is a big deal and we are looking to race and dive to the best of our ability. We are pretty beat up from winter training camp right now, but ASU will be in the same situation so it will be a matter of who can be mentally tough enough to fight through the fatigue and come out with a win.”

Utah Head Diving Coach Richard Marschner 

“ASU is one of the top diving programs in the country and we are excited to have the chance to compete against them. We will be doing one-meter springboard and platform events, which will give us a great opportunity to compete on 10m and really get us geared up for our upcoming, busy schedule.”

Up Next
Following the meet at Arizona State, the men’s and women’s swimming squads will have a few weeks off, while the Utah diving teams head to Los Angeles Jan. 16-18 to compete in the UCLA Diving Invitational.

Both swimming and diving squads will then return to action in its first home meet of the 2015 portion of the season, hosting Denver in non-conference action on Friday, Jan. 23. The meet will take place inside Ute Natatorium and is set to get underway at 4 p.m.

College Swimming News courtesy of Utah Swimming and Diving.