The University of Utah swim and dive team earned three medals on Thursday at the Big 12 Conference Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. The men’s team is currently in third place out of seven teams with 838 points, while the women’s team holds fourth place among ten teams with 463 points.
Senior Elias Petersen secured his second gold medal of the week by winning the men’s 1-meter springboard event. Petersen moved into first place with a score of 76.80 on his final dive, earning him the conference title after taking silver in the 3-meter event the previous night.
“Elias put on a show today,” said head diving coach Richard Marschner. “He has been there so many times before and come up just short at so many conference finals, he’s always in the mix, he’s always been there. It was absolutely great to see him get that win, he’s one of those people that a lot of the crowd and a lot of his competitors were rooting for. It says so much about him as a person and as a competitor.”
Utah diver Callie Eaglestone also reached the podium, finishing third in the women’s 3-meter competition after delivering a strong performance in her final round.
“Callie did a wonderful, wonderful job,” Marschner said. “She’s such a steady performer and really steps up when it counts. She’s been lights-out in this meet, and we’re looking forward to tower. I think that’s a really strong event for us, both the men and the women.”
In swimming events, six Utah athletes reached championship finals on Thursday. Strahinja Maslo won bronze in the men’s 400 IM; Ella Derby placed sixth in her race; Evan VanBrocklin set a new school record in the 100 Fly; and Nick Chirafisi broke his own program record for the second time this week during his sixth-place finish in the 200 Free.
“Today was a very solid day all around,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “We had a lot of people make it back to finals and a lot of people score big points. Today was just what we needed. I think the team is fired up about where they are in the rankings and they know that they have to work really hard and put their head down and get the job done here the next two days to finish the way that we want and the way that we deserve.”
Twenty-eight Utah student-athletes advanced from preliminaries into finals on Thursday, an increase from Wednesday’s total of twenty-five.
In other results from Thursday:
– Five Utah men advanced out of prelims in the 100 Fly.
– Three Utes qualified for championship finals in both men’s and women’s 400 IM events.
– After winning gold Wednesday night in another event, Nick Chirafisi led Utah qualifiers into championship finals for men’s 200 Free.
– All three Utah men’s divers advanced out of prelims on 1-meter springboard.
– Callie Eaglestone was Utah’s only woman advancing to championship finals on women’s side for diving.
During Thursday evening’s finals:
– Petersen edged out an Arizona competitor by less than one point with his gold-medal performance.
– Eaglestone narrowly missed silver but secured bronze with her score.
– VanBrocklin broke his own school record again during his swim.
– Maslo took bronze while two teammates finished seventh and eighth respectively.
– Chirafisi set another program record during his sixth-place finish.
Fans can follow updates via social media platforms X (@UTAHswimdive), Instagram (@utahswimdive), Facebook (FB.com/UtahUtesSwimDive), or through Utah Athletics’ official mobile app.
