PHOENIX – Although the Cougars swept two diving events in both the men's 1-meter and 3-meter, it was not enough as the BYU swim and dive team fell to Grand Canyon University in a dual meet Saturday afternoon at the Fr Edward J. Reese Aquatic Center.
“For the first meet of the new year and everyone being sick, we swam and dove well,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We started off a bit rocky but really dug deep. A big thank you to retired coach Keith Russell for coming in place of our diving head coach Tyce Routson.”
In the men’s 1-meter, Nathan Gonzales took first with a score of 350.33 while Bryce Farabee earned his first zone qualifying score of the season in second with a 318.23. Matt Denkers followed in third place with a 308.48. In the men’s 3-meter, Bryce Farabee took first, earning another zone qualifying score and new career high of 344.10. Gonzales took second at 337.73 and Denkers followed with a zone qualifying score of 320.55.
Freshman Elizabeth Holmes earned first place and a new season high in the women’s 3-meter with a 278.78. Morgan Mellow also recorded a new season high of 259.73, earning third place. In the women’s 1-meter, Holmes took second with a new season high of 232.50 while Mellow took third with 227.25.
In the women’s 1000-yard freestyle, Casey Cunningham earned her first first-place win of the season with a time of 10:47.67 and Katia Quezada took second at 10:49.85. Cunningham also earned second place in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.32 and the 500-yard freestyle at 5:10.82.
Haley Bertoldo took second in the women’s 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.41, followed by Emma Richards Lythgoe in third place at 1:00.30. Bertoldo also took second place in the 200-yard back with a time of 2:05.87.
Senior captain Preston Jenkins earned first place in three events, including a new GCU pool record in the men’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.52. Jenkins also posted a first-place time in the 100-yard freestyle at 45.41 and the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:52.28.
Nathan Rogers earned three new season highs in the meet including a second-place win the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.02. In the men’s 200-yard butterfly, Rogers recorded a time of 1:52.00 for third place while earning another third-place win in the 200-yard IM at 1:54.59.
Before the final regular season meet, the swim team seniors will be honored at the BYU men’s basketball game on Jan. 18. The Cougar swim team will finish out its regular season on Jan. 27 in a dual meet at the University of Utah. The dive team will also compete against Utah but has its final meet the following week at the Air Force Academy. Live stats will be available on the schedule page.