PROVO, Utah – The White Team just edged out the Blue Team 359-358 in the annual BYU swim and dive Blue and White scrimmage on Saturday at the Richards Building Pool.
“We had some improvements from last week’s meet,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We had a few kids swimming some off events and overall we’re improving and looking forward to what we can do next week.”
Times were not counted in the meet; only points were up for grabs as the two teams dueled it out. The competition was a weeklong event with different activities throughout the week like an obstacle course, swim events and weight room competitions. Heading into the meet the Blue team actually led 90-84.
“This week brought a very good team spirit,” Brooks said. “The meet is the climax and it was good doing everything leading up to it.”
The Blue team got the first win of the meet with Jake Taylor, Michael King, Emily To’o and Alexandria Sorensen combining to win the 200 medley relay.
Freshman Luis Ventura kept it going for the Blue team winning the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Whitney Allen kept the Blue team theme going, getting the win in the women’s 200 free.
Hayden Palmer picked up the first win for the White team in the men’s 200 free. Ciera Marsh Keller kept the momentum going for the White team winning the 100 yard breaststroke.
Michael King helped the Blue team get on track with a win in the men’s 100 breast.
Brenna Dickson continued a strong showing for the freshmen women winning the 200 butterfly. Rafael Alfaro helped the White team sweep the 200 fly with a win in the men’s race.
The White team also swept the 50 free races with Alora Foliaki winning for the women and McKay King for the men.
Midway through the meet, the White team led by 11 points with 13 events to go. After a 10-minute break, Ashlee Spindler kept the White win streak going, picking up a win in the women’s 100 free.
Taylor finally got the Blue team back on the board, winning the men’s 100 free.
The Blue team picked up a sweep in the 200 back with Stephen Richards winning for the men and Haley Bertoldo finishing first for the women.
In the women’s 500 free, Zerlynn Tiang won it for the White team and in the men’s 500 free, Ventura picked up another win for the Blue team.
The Blue team won the final event of the meet with Taylor, Sydney Dahl, Ventura and Lauren Shaw Taylor winning a combined 400 free relay. It was too little too late as the Blue team fell to the White team by a point.
For the divers, Kevin Dreesen and Matt Hopper along with Mackenzie Rands and Ali Tippetts led the way.
“The expectation is that we’re going to make some mistakes with it being our first event of the year,” BYU head diving coach Keith Russell said. “Everything considered we did a good job today, there were a few dives that could have been better, but overall everyone was putting their heart in it and that’s what I expect.”
The Cougars travel to Grand Junction, Colorado, to compete in the Mesa State Invite Oct. 3-4 in their first official meet of the season.