Lopus Breaks Second Mountain West Conference Record on Final Day of Swimming and Diving Championships - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

Lopus Breaks Second Mountain West Conference Record on Final Day of Swimming and Diving Championships
Ute women end the week in fourth place, while the men's team finished sixth.

Feb. 28, 2009

Full Results

Final Team Standings

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Utah swimming and diving team finished competition at the Mountain West Conference Championships today. The Ute women ended the week in fourth place with 468.5 points while the men's team finished in sixth with 326 points.

"We got off to a rough start at this meet," said head coach Greg Winslow. "We're a young team, and some of our swimmers weren't able to get over that initial setback."

Whitney Lopus (Scottsdale, Ariz.) broke another MWC record during the day. Lopus finished the 200 fly with a time of 1:55.52, earning her a second individual championship. The time broke the previous record that Lopus set earlier in the season of 1:56.78. Hannah Caron (Raleigh, N.C.) finished in fourth place with her time of 1:58.78. Caron's time was a career-best in the event. Both women's times are `B' standard times for the NCAA Championships.

"Whitney will most likely be heading the NCAA Championship meets," said Winslow. "We'll be heading back on Tuesday to get her ready to represent Utah on the national level."

Natalie Edge (South Jordan, Utah) placed in the 100 free with a time of 49.89, her best of the season.

The women's 400 free relay team also finished with a `B' standard time. The team of Edge, Annie VanLeeuwen (West Valley City, Utah), Caron and Lopus finished the race in 3:20.49, placing third overall.

"We won't know till next week whether our Hannah and our relay teams will get invited to the NCAA Championships," said Winslow.

Major Robinson (Missoula, Mont.) finished in third in the 200 back with his time of 1:48.13. Also placing for the Utes was John Baque (Olympia, Wash.). Baque, who finished sixth in the 100 breast, finished in fourth for the 200 breast with his time of 1:59.20. The time was his career-best and set a new Utah school record in the event.

"John came back from the rough start and showed a lot of maturity today," said Winslow. "To come back and finish with the times he had today was awesome."

Adam Oliver (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was honored by the conference with the Senior Recognition Award at the end of the meet. The award is voted on by the coaches of the conference and given to the senior that has exemplified the ideals of the conference both in and out of the pool.

"We'll be back in the pool on Tuesday training for next year. We're going to address the concerns that we saw here this week, make some changes, and be ready for next year," said Winslow.

Anna Braszkiewicz, Kwan Ling Yu and Jessica Schenk will continue their season at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships March 12-14.

The NCAA Finals that will be held in College Station, Texas March 19-21.