The Utah swimming and diving teams traveled to Provo to take on the Cougars in what would be their final dual meet before the Mountain West Conference Championships in three weeks.
The Ute men earned a couple of firsts and streak busters, as they beat the Cougars to earn their first conference win of the season, ending a five-year losing streak in the pool to the Cougars. The Utes ended a back-and-forth match with a 162–138 victory.
“Our men stepped up and did a great job tonight,” said head coach Greg Winslow. “It was a close meet, and we lost a few events back-to-back, but Major (Robinson) won at the right times and helped turn the whole meet around for us.”
The women squared off against the top team in the conference in the Cougars and fell 218–82. The loss wraps up the regular season with a winning record of 7-6 and a .500 record of 4-4 in the MWC. As always, there were plenty of bright spots for the women’s team. Hannah Caron and Natalie Edge continued their roll as they took some top finishes against a tough field in Provo.
Edge drummed the field in the 50 free with a top-finishing time of 23.54 seconds, and she had a second-place finish in the 200 free at 1 minute 52.93 seconds. Caron also took some hardware, with second-place times in the 100 free (52.24 seconds) and the 100 fly (55.99 seconds), along with a notable third-place finish in the 200 IM (2:05.68).
Winslow—having had confidence in the women all year—said he feels that the women are capable of going out and taking the crown at the conference championships that begin Feb. 24.
“Our women swam strong, and I am proud of them and the efforts they displayed,” Winslow said. “I think that we are ready for conference at the end of the month.”
Winslow also spoke highly of sophomore Robinson after the meet with the Cougars on Thursday. Robinson sealed the deal for the Utes with two first-place finishes in the 100 (51.57 seconds) and 200 (1:53.97) back races. Robinson also chipped in some support with the 200 medley team, which took a top-three finish with the time of 1:36.15.
But the notable personal performances don’t stop at Robinson. The Utes saw numerous athletes step up for the rival meet. Junior Garrett Peterson made some career highs in the 100 (57.48 seconds) and 200 (2:05.47) breasts, both of which secured first-place finishes.
Junior Rick Mason threw his name in the mix with two first-place finishes of his own in the 500 and 1,000 free with the times of 4:25.71 and 9:34.30.
However, it wasn’t all underclassmen for the Ute men, as senior John Baque sealed his last regular-season dual meet by surpassing the Cougars in the 100 and 200 breast with second-place times of 57.69 seconds and 2:6.78.
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