USC vs Utah (Men’s Dual)
- Saturday, February 13th, 2021
- Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
- SCY (Short Course Yards)
- Results – Friday
- Results – Saturday
Team Scores
- USC – 160
- Utah – 94
The USC Trojans host the Utah Utes for a men’s dual on Friday and Saturday, sweeping the swimming events. Harry Homans, a USC sophomore, won 3 individual events on the weekend. On Friday, Homans took the 200 fly with a 1:44.59, touching first by well over a second. The time was just off Homan’s season best of 1:44.09, which he swam in January.
Homans, who transferred to USC from Georgia this season, then went on to win the 200 backstroke on Saturday. Touching in 1:43.68, Homans established a new season best by over a second. He was a bit off his personal best of 1:41.88, which he swam at last year’s SEC Championships. Homans also took the 200 IM, finishing in 1:49.08. That was another season best for Homans, coming in just slightly under his previous 2021 best of 1:49.22. Homans’ lifetime best 200 IM of 1:45.29 was also swum at last year’s SEC Champs.
USC sprint star Nikola Miljenic swept the sprint free events. Miljenic took the 50 free in 19.94, establishing a new season best. His personal best is 19.35 from the 2019 Pac-12 Championships. Miljenic then went on to win the 100 free with a 43.28, touching first by over a second. He’s been as fast as 43.05 this season, and his personal best if 42.56 from the 2019 PAC-12 Champs.
Miljenic also led off the USC 400 free relay in 43.10, helping the squad to its 2:54.09 winning time. Alexei Sancov, Billy Cruz Zuniga, and Max Saunders followed Miljenic with splits of 43.16, 43.31, and 44.52 respectively.
Alexei Sancov, USC junior, won the 200 free and 100 fly. In the 200 free, Sancov swam a 1:34.43, touching first by over 2 seconds. Sancov has been 1:33.79 already this season, and has a personal best of 1:32.80 from 2018. Sancov went on to clock a personal best in the 100 fly, finishing in 46.43. His previous lifetime best of 47.32 was from 2017. The swim was huge for Sancov, marking his first personal best performance since November of 2019.
USC’s Mario Koenigsperger swept the breaststroke events. Koenigsperger swam a season best 54.44 to win the 100 breast, using a 28.95 split on the 2nd 50 to drive himself home for victory. He has a personal best of 52.12 from the 2019 NCAAs. Koenigsperger went on to swim a 1:57.82 to win the 200 breast, marking his first sub-2:00 performance of the season. His personal best 200 is a 1:53.72 from the 2019 Pac-12 Champs.
PRESS RELEASE – USC:
Sophomore Harry Homans posted a pair of individual wins to guide the USC men’s swimming team to a 160-94 victory over Utah at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Saturday (Feb. 13.) Isabelle Odgers also won twice, taking the 200y breast and 200y IM in USC’s women’s swimming and diving loss to UCLA.
The USC men’s team rebounds to 1-1 on the season in dual meet competition. The women’s team falls to 0-2 on the season.
USC posted seven event wins to defeat the Utes 160-94. Today’s win marks the first dual-meet win for the Trojans since 2019, when they defeated Utah 139.5-109.5 on February 23 at home.
Senior Nikola Miljenic opened the meet with a win in the 100y free, posting a 43.28, to secure an NCAA B-cut. Billy Cruz Zuniga was second in 44.33.
Sophomore Harry Homans won the 200y back, touching in 1:43.68. Jack Kirby was second in 1:44.16. Homans also took the 200y IM in 1:49.08.
In his final swim at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center, senior Mario Koenigsperger finished first in the 200y breast, posting a 1:57.82. Justin Lum was second in 2:00.24.
Junior Alexei Sancov posted a win in the 100y fly, touching in 46.43.
Junior Dom Margarino led a Trojan sweep in the 500y free, finishing in 4:26.90. David Mertz was second in (4:30.68), Ivan Puskovitch third in 4:32.09, Owen Kao (4:32.78) fourth and Trent Martinez fifth (4:32.95.)
During the final event of the session, USC’s A-relay of Miljenic, Sancov, Cruz Zuniga and Max Saunders, posted a 2:54.09 to win the relay.
In the diving well, sophomore’s George Korovin (344.55) and Nike Agunbiade both won on platform. Agunbiade finished with 268.20 to take the event. Freshman Tatsuya Machida was second for Troy with 245.60.
On the women’s side, seniors Jemma Schlicht and Marta Ciesla opened up the meet with a Trojan 1-2 finish in the 100y free. Schlicht posted a 48.87 and Ciesla was shortly behind in 49.30, beating UCLA’s Rachel Rhee by .01.
Aela Janvier extended the lead for the Trojans, picking up a win in the 200y back, and securing an NCAA B-cut with her time of 1:54.86.
Junior Odgers had another solid day of swims, winning both the 200y breast (2:09.00) and 200y IM (1:57.08). Senior Maggie Aroesty was second in 2:13.00.
In the final event of the day, the USC A team (Odgers, Ciesla, Dobler, Delgado) touched .04 seconds behind UCLA, finishing behind the Bruins A-relay that gave them the points needed to secure the dual meet win.
Both programs turn their attention to the Pac-12 Championships, which begin in less than two weeks (Feb. 24.)
USC-UCLA Series
The Trojans still hold a 29-17-1 edge against the Bruins but snapped a 13-meet unbeaten streak with today’s loss. The previous streak included 10 victories in a row from 2008-17 and the first tie in the series in 2018. The 10-meet win streak – which includes a still current five-meet win streak at home — matched USC’s previous best stretch of 10 in a row from 1994 to 2003 … Last year, USC downed the Bruins 181-119 at the Spieker Aquatics Center, where the Women of Troy won 11 races including the 400y free relay where they broke a Spieker Aquatics Center pool record by six seconds, posting a 3:14.01 … In 2019, USC experienced a 181-117 victory at home, winning ten events including one relay … The schools tied 150-150 at UCLA in 2018. USC won seven events, but UCLA caught USC over the final two events to end Troy’s 10-meet run … The Trojans’ win in 2017 was a 172-128 home victory in which Troy set six pool records and five meet records. Preceding that was a 181-119 victory at UCLA in 2016 and a 174.5-125.5 home win in 2015 that featured five USC swimmers winning two events apiece. In 2014 in Westwood, USC won 165-135, breaking 10 Spieker Aquatics Center pool records and nine meet records in the process. USC defeated UCLA, 167.5-132.5, at USC in 2013. Troy won the 2012 clash in Westwood, 170-130, in a meet in which Trojan swimmers also broke a combined 10 Bruin pool records. That followed a 176-124 victory at USC in 2011, a 164.5-136.5 win at UCLA in 2010, a 160-140 rain-soaked 2009 home win and a 158-142 decision in Westwood in 2008. UCLA last won in 2007 when the Bruins clinched victory during the meet’s final relay at McDonald’s Swim Stadium. USC hasn’t lost to UCLA in Westwood since 2004.
Crosstown Cup
The winner of the USC-UCLA dual meet scores 10 points toward the Crosstown Cup, awarded annually to the school with the most successful athletic year against the other. Points are awarded to the winner of each Trojan-Bruin head-to-head contest (100 points is the magic number).
PRESS RELEASE – UTAH:
LOS ANGELES- The Utah men’s swim team fell 160-94 to USC at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles on Saturday after completing the second half of races in the two-day dual. The Utes closed out the 2021 dual season posting four personal bests to wrap up the weekend.
Santiago Contreras started off the second day of the meet taking second in the 100 free with a time of 44.52, with Noah Carlson (44.63) and JP Hynes (45.15) following in third and fourth. Carlson’s time of 44.63 was a personal best in the 100 free. In the next event, Preston Planells placed second in the 200 back with a time of 1:47.17 and Parker McOmber took the third spot on the podium with a time of 1:48.70. Connor Elwyn recorded a personal best time of 1:50.99 in the 200 back.
Lex Hernandez-Nietling recorded a personal best time of 2:01.17 in the 200 breast to place second, while Andrew Britton (2:05.15) took third. Micah Ginoza came in second in the 500 free with a time of 4:34.03, with teammate Rhys Winter following in third with a time of 4:36.20. In the 100 fly, Ben Waterman placed second with a time of 47.06 and teammate Cole Giandinoto came in third with a personal best time of 48.85.
Hernandez-Nietling took another second place finish, this time in the 200 IM, with a time of 1:53.57. Tony Puertas finished in third with a time of 1:54.95. To finish the meet, Marko Kokacic, Giandinoto, Conteras, and Waterman took second in the 400 free relay with a time of 2:58.57.
For full results from Saturday’s action, click here (PDF).
Up next, the dive team will compete in the Pac-12 Diving Championships from Feb. 24-27 at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in Tucson, Ariz. Over the same dates, the Utah women’s swim team will travel to Houston, Texas to compete at the Pac-12 Swimming Championships at the University of Houston.
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