UC Davis continued their conference winning streak against BYU this weekend, with the women claiming a 168-132 victory. They’ve now won 13 MPSF dual meets in a row.
UC Davis:
PROVO, UTAH – Eight different Aggies combined to win 11 events on the day and UC Davis extended its winning streak to 13 against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponents on Saturday, handing the host Cougars a 168-132 defeat at the Richards Building Pool in Provo, Utah.
The Aggies evened their dual meet record at 2-2 this season, splitting their road trip to the “Beehive State” with Saturday’s win. UC Davis hasn’t lost a conference dual since falling to UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 28, 2012.
Junior Hilvy Cheung won three events and freshman Solie Laughlin took home a pair of wins to help lift the Aggies to the win, sweeping both distances in their signature events for the second-straight meet with Cheung adding a win in the 200 IM.
The Aggies led wire-to-wire, opening the meet by taking the top two spots in the 200 medley relay — including the quartet of Laughlin, Hailey Ferko, Brittany Rojo, and Mia Facey, setting a season-best with a time of 1:46.43 to edge their teammates by two-tenths of a second.
BYU responded by taking three of the top four spots in the 1000 free to close to within two points, senior Lexy Troup finishing third with a time of 10:44.93 — the second-fastest time by an Aggie this season — to lead the way, and UC Davis began to pull away with a win by Kirsten Brand in the 200 free, jumpstarting a run of five consecutive wins for the Aggies.
Brand won the 200 free in a time of 1:54.97 — the second-fastest time by an Aggie in the event this season — and was followed by victories from Laughlin in the 100 back (58.08), Ferko in the 100 breast (1:07.15), Cheung in the 200 fly (2:03.71), andCourtney Schultz in the 50 free (24.00). Schultz’s time in the sprint was the fastest non-relay split time of the year, ranking behind her 23.96 against Loyola Marymount on Oct. 31, and Cheung’s split of 23.71 at Utah on Friday.
Freshman Mia Facey took home top honors in the 100 free, touching in a time of 52.03, before Laughlin came back and won the 200 back in a time of 2:05.15. Junior Elise Roberts posted a season-best time in winning the 200 breast (2:23.16), and the Aggies closed out the day with wins by Cheung in the 100 fly (55.47) and a season-best in the 200 IM (2:06.28), while senior Lucy Lafranchise was victorious on the low board with a score of 246.95.
UC Davis takes the next 12 days off before the swimmers compete in their first invitational of the season, traveling to Houston, Texas, to compete at the Phill Hansel Invitational hosted by the University of Houston on Nov. 19-21. The divers, meanwhile, will head to the desert, competing at the Wildcat Diving Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 20-22.
BYU:
BYU/Colorado Mesa/UC Davis Results
PROVO, Utah – Payton Sorenson and Vanessa Moffatt led BYU as the men’s team marked a 149-131 victory over Colorado Mesa, with the women’s team dropping a close match against UC Davis 168-132 at the Richards Building Pool Saturday morning.
“We had a handful of swimmers from our women’s team that recorded lifetime best’s today,” BYU head coach John Brookssaid. “Vanessa did a really good job in the 500 and 1000 free events. On the men’s side, Payton Sorenson posted one of the top-15 times in the country with his 50 free. We had a lot of our men swimming in off-events, so they were able to learn some new things and that was very helpful for them.”
The BYU men swept the 200-yard medley relay, with a team of Rainer Ng, Stephen Richards, Jake Taylor and Payton Sorenson claiming first at 1:30.72, Preston Jenkins, Nate Henderson, Connor Stirling and Luis Ventura placing second with a 1:33.94 and Cameron Lindsay, Ryan Sorensen, Chad Sorensen and Kent Fellows earning third with a 1:36.18 finish.
In the women’s 1000 freestyle, Vanessa Moffatt and Emily Harris took first and second for the Cougars with finishes of 10:38.03 and 10:44.51 respectively. Dallin Johnson and McKay Palmer also placed first and second in the men’s event, with Johnson registering a 10:00.55 and Palmer clocking a 10:05.49.
Brenna Dickson took second in the women’s 200 free with a 1:55.36 finish, while Lauren Shaw Taylor took third with a 1:55.38. Ventura won the men’s event for BYU with a 1:43.05 finish, followed closely by Fellows who placed second in 1:46.05.
Ashlee Spindler finished the women’s 100 backstroke in 58.20, good enough for second-place. Samantha Lingenbrink took third in the event with a 59.04 finish. Ng won the men’s event with a 49.81 finish, followed closely in second by Jenkins at 50.95.
In the women’s 100 breaststroke, Riley Merrill took second-place for the Cougars in 1:07.24. Taylor won the men’s side of the event with a time of 57.08, while Henderson took third with a 58.51 finish.
The Cougars placed two swimmers in the women’s 200 butterfly, with Lillian Moore taking second in 2:07.57 and Moffatt finishing third with a 2:08.41. In the men’s side of the event, Nathan Rogers finished in 1:55.39 for first-place, with Ventura taking second in 1:55.49.
The Cougars swept the men’s 50 free with Sorenson sprinting to a 20.34 for first, Fellows finishing in 21.59 for second andSeth Russell earning third with a time of 21.62.
In the women’s 100 free, Ellie Thornbrue took second place with a 52.31 finish, while Brenna Dickson placed third in 52.57. The Cougars completed another sweep on the men’s side, with Taylor posting a 45.24 for first, Russell finishing second in 47.12 and David Harlan earning third with a 48.76.
Ng won the men’s 200 back event for the Cougars, posting a 1:52.23 finish, with Richards earning third-place in 1:59.58.
BYU swept the women’s 500 free, with Moffatt posting a 5:08.46 for first, Kelly Hatanaka earning second with a 5:08.77 finish and Zerlynn Tiang placing third in 5:15.72. Shawn Western finished the men’s event in 4:48.60, good enough for first. Dallin Johnson placed third with a 4:52.34.
BYU swept the men’s 100 fly, with Jenkins taking first in 51.83, Ryan Sorensen earning second with a 52.78 and Stirling placing third with a time of 52.92.
In the women’s 400 free relay, a team comprised of Thornbrue, Katie Smith, Alora Foliaki and Dickson won the race with a 3:30.94 finish. On the men’s side, Jenkins, Sorenson, Stirling and Taylor took first-place with a 3:04.57.
“I think our team calmed down and just took things one dive at a time,” BYU head diving coach Tyce Routson said. “The divers are focusing on the long-term goal and scores and they put together some great dives. Matt qualified on 1-meter and 3-meter for NCAA zones. Kevin also had another standout performance, so it was a very good meet.”
BYU swept the men’s 1-meter event with Matt Denkers posting a 341.25 for first-place, Kevin Dreesen scoring a 328.20 for second and Jordan Tuckfield diving to a third with a score of 296.80.
Ali Tippetts-Kottcamp won the women’s 3-meter dive with a score of 270.90. BYU completed another sweep on the men’s side with Dreesen posting a 407.15 for first, Denkers scoring a 320.75 to place second and Tuckfield earning a 314.45 for third.
The women’s team will take on Oregon State next Saturday, Nov. 7 in Corvallis, Oregon, at the Stevens Natatorium. The divers will follow that meet on Nov. 20-21 as they travel to the Arizona Diving Invite in Tucson, Arizona.
Swimming news courtesy of UC Davis and BYU Swimming & Diving.