SWIMMING/DIVING: The all-Mountain West Conference swimming and diving team was announced recently, and six men and seven women from the University of Utah received individual honors while seven of the Ute relays were also recognized.
In order to earn a place on the all-MWC team, a student-athlete must either place in the top six of a men's event or the top eight of a women's event at the MWC Championships. The relays that are honored must place in the top three.
For the second consecutive season, senior Garrett Peterson and junior Major Robinson earned a spot on the 200 breaststroke and 200 backstroke all-conference teams, respectively.
Freshman Brent Murray was listed on the all-MWC teams for the 50 and the 100 freestyle, while sophomore Garret Beaman was listed for the 200 freestyle. Karson Applin, also a sophomore, was listed on the all-conference for the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley teams. This is Applin's second consecutive year being honored for his performance in the 100 fly.
On the boards, sophomore Nelson Foo was named to the all-conference teams for the 3-meter and platform dives.
The Ute men's relays that were named to the all-MWC team were the second-place 200 and 400 free relays (Beaman, Murray, Applin, Bjorn Gunnarsson), the third-place 200 medley relay (Austin Fiascone, Peterson, Applin, Gunnarsson), and the third-place 400 medley relay (Robinson, Peterson, Applin and Murray).
On the women's side, Natalie Edge wrapped up her senior season by being honored for her performances in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle events. Edge has been on the all-conference teams for these three events for each year of her collegiate career.
Junior Hannah Caron earned a spot on the all-conference teams for the 100 and 200 butterfly as well as the 200 IM. She has placed on the all-MWC teams for each of these three events for the past three years.
For the second year in a row, senior Maiya Otsuka's performance in the 200 breaststroke garnered her spot on the team as well.
Freshmen Samantha Zuch and Traycie Swartz were honored for their performances in the freestyle events. Zuch made the cut in the 200 freestyle, while Swartz earned spots on the 50 and 100 freestyle teams. Swartz also placed on the all-conference team with her performance in the 100 backstroke.
Both Ellis Walters and Kwan Ling Yu made the all-MWC team for their performances in the platform dive. Walters achieved a spot on the team for the 1-meter dive as well.
The women's relays that made the all-MWC team were the 200 free relay (Kristina Evans, Zuch, Edge, Swartz), the 400 free relay (Edge, Evans, Caron, and Swartz), and the 400 medley relay (Swartz, Otsuka, Caron, and Edge).
SOFTBALL: Junior first baseman Tia Palauni's game-winning home run in the top of the seventh inning gave the University of Utah softball team a 5-4 victory over Florida State on Saturday in the second game of the first day of the Big 10/MWC/ACC Challenge at JoAnne Graf Field. The Utes fell to Wisconsin in the first game of the day, 5-3.
Utah (7-12) received solid pitching throughout the day from Generra Nielson, who threw 10 innings and allowed only four earned runs on eight hits. The Blanding, Utah, native fanned 11 batters while only yielding one walk.
The Ute offense was led by a 2-for-4, three-RBI performance by Chalese Fankhauser, while Palauni went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs driven in.
Wisconsin 5, Utah 3
Five different Utes had hits, including Fankhauser, who hit a two-run double in the fourth inning. Fankhauser was 1-for-2 in the game, while Cheyella Myers, Palauni, Jackie Sweet and Hannah Clements had hits for Utah.
Naomi Amu went 21/3 innings in her sixth start of the season and allowed two earned runs on four hits to go with a pair of strikeouts. Brittany Parker made her sixth appearance this season before Nielson came on to pitch the final three innings. She did not allow an earned run and only gave up five hits while striking out five Badger hitters. With the loss, Amu's record fell to 1-4 on the year.
Wisconsin (5-2) starting pitcher Cassandra Darrah allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in a complete-game effort that moved her record to 3-0 this season.
Utah 5, Florida State 4
Brooke Olson was 2-for-4 at the plate against the Seminoles while five other Utes registered hits and five different Utah players were credited with an RBI apiece.
In her eighth start this season, Nielson picked up her seventh win in 2011 with her fourth complete game of the year against FSU. In 7 innings, she allowed four earned runs on six hits to go with six strikeouts and only one walk. Nielson is now 7-8 on the year.
The Utes conclude the Big 10/MWC/ACC Challenge today with games against Wisconsin and Florida State.
BASEBALL: The Utah baseball team overcame a rough start to defeat No. 16 Baylor, 4-3, at the Houston College Classic on Saturday afternoon at Houston.
Utah had two errors and two wild pitches in the first inning, allowing Baylor to score two unearned runs for a 2-0 lead.
Ute starter Zach Adams recovered quickly, only allowing two hits and one more run the remainder of the way. In all, he pitched six innings, allowing just one earned run (three total) on three hits, striking out six to pick up his first win of the season.
The Utes also struggled at the plate early and didn't get a base runner until the top of the fourth inning. C.J. Cron drove in Utah's first run of the game with a single to left field with two on. Cody Guymon was intentionally walked to load the bases and Jo Jo Sharrar walked to send home Utah's second run of the inning, tying the score at 2-2.
Baylor came back in the bottom of the fourth to re-take the lead, 3-2, but the Utes quickly came back in the top of the fifth to go back ahead. Cron had his second RBI hit of the day with a single up the middle, followed by an RBI single from Guymon to plate a pair of runs and take a 4-3 lead.
Freshman Ben Mordini took over for Adams in the seventh inning, allowing just one hit in his two innings while striking out three. Tyler Wagner made his second appearance of the tournament in the ninth, throwing less than 10 pitches to get his second save in as many days.
"We made a couple of mistakes in the first inning which cost us a run, so I was really happy with the team coming back after being down 2-0 and going ahead," Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Most important, the pitching was outstanding. Adams and Mordini had great innings and Wagner threw less than 10 pitches. That's the way you draw it up, and I was really proud of them today.
"We're seeing really good pitching and having good at-bats. We had chances for more runs and it would have been nice to add a couple more, but we'll take it and move on."
Cron and Brooks each had two hits at the plate, with Cron coming away with two RBI.
Utah closes out the Houston College Classic against Kentucky on Sunday morning.
TRACK AND FIELD: The University of Utah track and field team completed competition at the Alex Wilson Invitational, where they set two school records and had two athletes finish in the top 10 of their respective events.
In the mile event, sophomore Amanda Mergaert broke her own school-record time for the third time this season. Mergaert clocked a time 4:44.00, earning eighth place overall. Senior Alyssa Abbott competed in the 3,000-meter race and finished eighth place. Abbott's time of 9:32.71 was within two seconds of her current personal best.
On Friday, the Utes competed in the distance medley relay event and finished second overall. The DMR team included the same athletes that broke the school record last season. This year, Kepler rearranged the order they competed in. Abbott completed the 1,200-meter leg of the event in a time of 3:28. Alyssa Johnson ran the 400-meter segment and clocked a personal-best split time of 54.2 seconds. Lucy Yates finished the 800-meter portion in 2:07.6 and handed the baton to Mergaert who posted a lifetime-best split time of 4:40.7 in the 1,600 meters. Overall, the team finished with a time of 11:11.71, which is the fastest in school history and currently ranks 13th in the country.
Utah's Langley Iverson will compete March 11 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held in College Station, Texas.