Records Fall on Final Day in Princeton for Swim & Dive

PRINCETON, N.J. – Two new school records and a new pool record, as well as 15 NCAA Qualifying marks went into the books for the University of Utah swimming and diving team on Sunday as they competed on the final day of the of the Big Al Invitational at Princeton University's DeNunzio Pool.
 
"It was a good day today," said coach Jonas Persson. "We had some really nice individual performances and great attitudes. I'm glad we could finish the meet with a win and a school record on the relay. Overall, we learned a lot at this meet, which will make us better."
 
In The Pool
Taylor Kabacy got the day started with a second-place finish in the women's 1650 freestyle and she missed her personal-best by less than a half-second, finishing in 16:37.99. Summer Stanfield pocketed the first Utah victory of the day, besting the field in the 200 backstroke by touching in 1:55.40 and right behind her was teammate Norah Hay, who clocked in at 1:55.79. Stanfield moves up to second all-time in the program record book in that event, while Hay takes over fourth and both times counted as NCAA Championships Qualifying B times.
 
Andrei Ungur recorded Utah's third-best time ever in the 200 back at 1:42.51, which also earned him first place in the race and another NCAA B time. Ryan Garstang logged an NCAA B time in that event as well and landed in sixth all-time with a mark of 1:44.49.
 
Reagan Cathcart grabbed the top spot in the 100 free by reaching the finish in 49.79, Utah's ninth fastest mark in that event. The men's 100 free saw Finn O'Haimhirgin top the field at 43.28 and JP Hynes placed third in 43.70, ninth-best by a Ute on the men's side. These times all surpassed the NCAA's B standard.
 
One day after breaking the Utes' record in the 100 breaststroke, Jaek Horner did the same in the 200 breaststroke with a mark of 1:53.85 that put him in first place as well. Baylor Lewis registered the team's fifth-fastest finish in that event in prelims, finishing in 1:58.14. Charity Pittard swam into the top spot in the women's 200 breaststroke, posting a time of 2:12.99 and Hilja Schimmel collected third, recording a 2:13.27 that also put her fifth on the school's all-time leaderboard. The performances of Horner, Pittard and Schimmel all qualified as NCAA B times.
 
Another NCAA B time came from Marko Kovacic in the men's 200 butterfly and he also moved into fourth all-time by reaching the wall in 1:45.56. The team's final swimming milestone of the day was provided by the 400 free relay quartet of O'Haimhirgin, Horner, Ungur and Hynes, who not only won the race and posted a NCAA qualifying mark, but also broke the Utah record in that race with a mark of 2:51.30.
 
On The Boards
Sunday was platform day for the divers and the Utes made the most of the opportunity. Kathryn Grant's score of 282.40 goes down as a new DeNunzio Pool record, fourth-best in program history and good enough for first place. Holly Waxman placed third in the event, piling up 244.35 points.
 
The men's platform competition started with Jenner Pennock collecting 356.80 points, a personal-best for him and sixth-best all-time by a Ute. In the final, Luke McDivitt earned the top spot with a mark of 385.50, while Ben Smyth's performance netted him 378.95 points and Pennock took fourth with a score of 339.45. The work of Grant, Waxman, McDivitt, Smyth and Pennock put all five on the NCAA Championships Qualifying list.
 
"Our platform performance was an incredible way to end the meet after a long week with some travel issues," said diving coach Richard Marschner. "I'm really proud of our performance, as we showed a lot of toughness and resilience to come out and dive at such a high level. Kathryn lit it up in the finals and set a new pool record in a dominant performance. The guys were great all-around as Jenner set a PB in prelims and Luke pulled off a phenomenal final round dive to earn the win. Ben put together a very strong performance as well, as I think that was his second-best score ever."
 
Looking Ahead
The next time the Utes will be in action will at home. They're scheduled to host a dual meet against Colorado Mesa on Jan. 6-7 at the Ute Natatorium.
 
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