LARAMIE, Wyo. – Freshman Elizabeth Holmes placed third in all events while senior Matt Denkers earned BYU’s first platform zone cut of the season during the two-day Wyoming Diving Invite.

“I am so proud and encouraged by a lot of great performances from the men’s and women’s teams,” BYU dive coach Tyce Routson said. “Elizabeth Holmes has shown outstanding consistency in finals and was our top finisher, earning third on all three events. Thanks to Wyoming for holding a last-minute invite and providing great competition before our conference meet.”

During the two-day competition, the Cougars earned 17 new season highs with many divers posting a season high on the platform. For the men, Denkers, Nathan Gonzales, Ryan Evans and Kimble Mahler earned platform season highs as well as Holmes, Morgan Paul and Kaylie Jackson for the women.

BYU represented well in the top-three in all events for both the men and women, including Holmes' top-three finishes in every event. Holmes took second on platform with season high of 200.25, third in the 1-meter with a score of 247.70 and third on the 3-meter at 275.80.

On the first day of the completion, Holmes took third posting a score of 257.60 with Morgan Mellow following in fourth at 243.55 in the women’s 1-meter prelims. Paul then came in fifth with a new season high of 238.80. Adia London also recorded a new season high of 227.80 to advance. In the finals, London bested that season high with a 241.55 for fifth place.

Gonzales took first place in the men’s 3-meter prelims with a 344.55. Denkers followed in second place, earning a new season high of 322.15. Morgan Cooper and Evans also qualified for finals with scores of 280.25 and 279.30, respectively.

In the men’s 3-meter finals, Denkers took third, besting his season high earned in the prelims with a score of 328.05. Gonzales followed in fourth, recording a 316.35.

During the second day of the competition, Gonzales took first with a score of 344.55 in the men’s 1-meter prelims. Mahler came in third with a season high of 298.55, followed by Denkers in fourth at 289.55. In the finals, the men swept the podium. Denkers came in first with a season high of 326.85, followed by a new season high from Cooper at 314.25 for second place. Gonzales took third place with a 294.40.

Denkers recorded a season high and BYU’s first platform zone cut with a score of 300.70 in prelims. Gonzales came in third with a new season high at 276.95 on the platform which he bested in finals at 297.70. Evans and Mahler also recorded season highs on the platform with scores of 242.95 and 237.15, respectively.

The Cougars have two weeks off as they prepare for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship held from Feb. 12-14 in Los Angeles.

PROVO ­– The BYU dive team heads to the Wyoming Invite for their final regular season competition.

Originally, the Cougars planned to attend the Air Force Diving Invite, but after the invite was canceled BYU decided to travel to Wyoming.

The Cougars will compete against Colorado State, Northern Colorado, Denver, Wyoming and Air Force.

Air Force Academy head diving coach, Stan Curnow, is a BYU diving alumni. He graduated from BYU in 1977 with a degree in physical education. As a diver, Curnow was the Western Athletic Conference diving champion three out of four years and earned All-American honors in 1972 and 1974.

Current BYU diver Nathan Gonzales, still has the top score in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the 1-meter with a score of 351.15 and is No. 2 in the 3-meter at 366.50.

The two-day diving invite will begin on Friday, Feb. 2, at 10:00 a.m. MST at Laramie High School and will continue on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the same time.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Matt Denkers, Nathan Gonzales and Morgan Cooper qualified to compete in the men’s 3-meter finals on the first day of the Zone E Championships.  

In the men’s 3-meter, Denkers recorded a score of 306.70 for 12th place, Gonzales posted a score of 297.70 for 14th place and Cooper earned a 294.35, all qualifying for finals.

In finals, Denkers recorded a final score of 636.65 for 11th place, Gonzales followed in 12th with a 626.50 and Cooper finished with a score of 580.25 for 16th place.

Elizabeth Holmes recorded the highest BYU women’s 1-meter score of the day at 214.55 in prelims. Morgan Mellow and Morgan Paul also competed, earning scores of 202.10 and 198.95, respectively.

The competition continues Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. MST with the women’s 3-meter at the Douglas J. Wall Aquatic Center. Live results are available at divemeets.com.

PROVO, Utah –  Eight divers head to Arizona to compete in the Zone E Diving Championships from March 3-5 to determine who will compete at the NCAA tournament.

Divers qualify to compete in the Zone E Diving Championships by earning a pre-determined score for the men’s and women’s 1-meter, 3-meter and platform during the regular season or conference championships.

BYU will compete against 20 other teams including Utah, Grand Canyon, USC, University of Wyoming, UNLV and Hawai’i.  The top nine on the women’s 1-meter, top five on the men’s 1-meter, top nine on the women’s 3-meter, top seven on the men’s 3-meter, top eight on the women’s platform and top seven on the men’s platform will continue on to compete at the NCAA’s.

Nathan Gonzales and Matt Denkers qualified to compete in all three events, Morgan Cooper and Bryce Farabee will compete on the 1-meter and 3-meter, while Kimble Mahler will compete on the 1-meter. For the women, Elizabeth Holmes will compete on the 1-meter, Morgan Paul on the 3-meter and Morgan Mellow will compete on platform.

The competition begins on Monday, March 5 with the women’s 1-meter prelims at 11:00 a.m. MST and finals at 2:35 p.m. MST. The women compete in the 3-meter the following day at the same times. The men compete on Monday in the 3-meter prelims at 5:35 p.m. MST and finals at 7:20 p.m. MST. The following day the men compete in the 1-meter at the same times.

Both the men and women compete on that platform Wednesday with the women’s prelims at 11:00 a.m. MST and finals at 1:35 p.m. MST. The men will compete in prelims at 3:50 p.m. MST with finals at 5:35 p.m. MST.

The competition is held at Northern Arizona University at the Douglas J. Wall Aquatic Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Live results will be available on divemeets.com.

SALT LAKE CITY – Freshmen Mariah Lindsay and Brigham Harrison shined despite a loss to Utah in the Deseret First Duel Saturday afternoon at the Ute Natatorium in BYU's final dual meet of the season. 

“We are thankful Utah was able to host this meet for us because it was supposed to be at our facility,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “This has been a rocky year for us. We have faced a challenge in everything we have done. With that said, I could not be prouder of our team. Today I saw a team that cheered for each other, fought for everything they could and did the very best with what they had. Mariah Lindsay stepped up and had an amazing meet as well as Brigham Harrison.”

Lindsay competed in three individual events today placing top-three in each event. In the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, Lindsay took second with a new season high of 2:21.45. She also placed second in the 200-yard IM at 2:09.52 and third in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.82.

Harrison placed third in the men’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.21 behind senior Preston Jenkins. Jenkins, who was out-touched by Utah, took second place with a time of 1:40.54. Harrison took fourth in the men’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.79 behind senior Kent Fellows who took third with a time of 46.99. Harrison also anchored the men’s second place 400-yard freestyle relay team with a split of 47.03.

Junior Haley Bertoldo earned BYU’s only individual first place of the meet in the women’s 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.48. Sophomore Katie Smith, who just returned from her LDS mission in December, took second in the women’s 50-yard freestyle with a new season high of 24.33.

A team of Tiare Coker, Casey Cunningham, Vanessa Moffatt and Smith led BYU to its first-place win in the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay. With Utah’s A relay team disqualified, BYU took first with a time of 3:33.74.

The dive team, started the dual meet Friday night competing in the women’s 1-meter and the men’s 3-meter.

“I think the divers performed strong,” BYU head dive coach Tyce Routsonsaid. “I think we could have been a little bit sharper to make it a little bit more competitive. There were some slight misses, but that means we are getting closer to hitting our peak at the right time.”

On Friday, freshman Elizabeth Holmes took second in the women’s 1-meter with a score of 264.08 and freshman Kaylie Jackson earned a new season high of 232.58 taking fourth place. In the men’s 3-meter, senior Matt Denkers took third with a score of 300.68.

In the men’s 1-meter on Saturday, Denkers posted a new season high score of 320.03 taking second place. Kimble Mahler also recorded a new season high score of 274.95. In the women’s 3-meter, Morgan Paul took second with a score of 263.55, followed by Morgan Mellow with a score of 251.40 for third place. Jackson, Adia London and Kaitlyn Abernethy all earned new season high scores on the 3-meter.

The dive team will travel to its final competition of the season on Feb. 2-3 for the Air Force Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The swim team has concluded the regular season and will now prepare for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Feb. 12-14 in Los Angeles.

PROVO, Utah – For the swim team’s final regular season meet, BYU will compete in the Deseret First Duel against in-state rival the University of Utah this coming weekend in Salt Lake City.

"The Utah vs. BYU meet always brings out the best in competition and fans," BYU head coach John Brooks said. "I am grateful that Utah is willing to host the meet, as this year it was supposed to be in Provo."

Sophomore Nathan Gonzales currently has the highest 1-meter diving score in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 351.15 and is No. 2 in the 3-meter with a score of 366.50.

Senior Payton Sorenson is currently ranked No. 23 nationally in the men’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 42.88 and No. 28 in the 50-yard freestyle at 19.57. Senior captain Preston Jenkins is also ranked nationally in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke.

The diving portion of the meet will begin on Friday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. MST at the Ute Natatorium and swimming will begin on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. MST. Since the BYU pool is under construction the seniors on the swim and dive team will be honored before the BYU men’s basketball game on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. MST.

Grand Canyon Final Results

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.

PROVO, Utah ­– After returning from Puerto Rico for a training trip, the BYU swim and dive team heads to Grand Canyon University for a dual meet on January 13 in Phoenix, Arizona.

“We have had a couple of meets against them and they are always well prepared for the dual meets,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “We will be going back to sea level and are hoping to see where the team is at since our last dual meet a month or two ago.”

Senior captain Payton Sorenson is ranked No. 28 nationally in the men’s 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.57 and No. 23 in the 100-yard freestyle at a time of 42.88. Senior Preston Jenkins is also ranked nationally in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke with times of 1:35.59 and 1:44.42, respectively.

The Cougars also have 34 men and women ranked with top times in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The meet beginning at 1 p.m. MST on Saturday, Jan. 13, at Fr Edward J. Reese Aquatic Center. Results will be available on the men’s and women’s schedule page.