TUCSON, Ariz. — BYU men’s and women’s swim and dive completed its weekend dual meet at Arizona on Saturday at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
Photo credit: Patrick Mulligan
"I was thrilled to see our team rise to the challenge on day two after a slow start on day one," said BYU head swim and dive coach Tamber McAllister. "They rose to the occasion and adapted against a very strong and competitive Arizona team."
"It was a great meet for the divers to get prepared for the final stretch of the season," said BYU dive coach Tyce Routson. "They had to adapt to diving outdoors and it was great to see the full team healthy and competing together."
Men’s Recap
While falling to Arizona 240-107, Tanner Nelson led the BYU men with eight points on runner-up finishes in the 500 free at 4:27.13 and 400 individual medley at 3:56.82.
Nathaniel Eliason led three Cougars in the top four of the 50 free race with a second-place finish at 20.26. Asa Frisbee (20.93) and Joshua Reed (20.94) followed in third and fourth, respectively. Eliason added three more points with a third-place finish in the 100 fly at 48.36. Max Kleinman took second in the event at 47.95.
BYU had three more sets of second-third finishes in the 200 back, 200 breast and 200 free.
Diego Camacho Salgado went 1:45.83 to take second in the 200 back followed by Payton Plumb in third at a season-best 1:49.36. Emerson Edwards and Peter Etzold went two-three in the 200 breast with Edwards clocking 2:00.23.
Reed came in second in the 200 free at 1:37.37 with Anderson taking third in a season-best 1:39.12.
BYU men’s diving was led by freshman Ezra Purcell’s personal-best and third-place finish on platform. Purcell upped his previous best by over 31 points to score 297.75. Chase Hindmarsh came in close behind with a fourth-place score of 295.65.
Women’s Recap
Despite falling to the Wildcats 217-131, BYU women’s swim and dive saw winning performances from Alexia Jackson Hansen, Mackenzie Miller Lung and Lucy Warnick on Saturday.
Jackson Hansen commanded the platform diving event with a score of 261.9, a 28-point advantage over runner-up Zara Ayazi of Arizona. The junior from Mesa, Arizona now has three event wins on the season. Brooklyn Larson Clouse gave BYU a second top-3 finisher on platform as she scored 206.93 to finish third.
At 2:10.17, Miller Lung won the 200 breast race by three seconds over the Wildcats’ Eleni Gewalt. Miller Lung is coming off a school-record 2:09.61 in the 200 breast at the Texas Invitational on Nov. 22 and ranks 24th nationally in the event. The junior from Clovis, California now has a team-leading seven individual wins to her name this season.
Warnick clocked 4:21.73 to win the 400 individual medley over four seconds ahead of Arizona’s Joy Felner. Saturday’s 400 IM victory marked Warnick’s third of the season.
Victoria Schreiber, Kara Martinson and Sarah Eliason added three more runner-up finishes for the Cougars on day two in Tucson.
Schreiber went 4:55.93 to take second in the 500 free while Martinson followed in third at a season-best 4:59.02. Martinson went on to finish second in the 200 free at 1:52.56. Eliason brought in four more points for BYU with a runner-up spot in the 100 fly at 55.48.
After two weeks off, the Cougars will return to action Jan. 10-11 with dive at Utah and swim hosting a dual meet versus UCSB.