Dual season closes with Utah
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 19 Arkansas swimming and diving team honors its five seniors and closes out the dual meet season against Utah on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Arkansas Natatorium.
The Razorbacks (5-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) recognize seniors Yi-Ting Siow, Leah Pierce and Lynette Ng; along with junior Megan Haskins and Kristen Keith for their contributions to the team in a short ceremony prior to the meet.
“We are looking forward to the meet this weekend,” Arkansas coach Jeff Poppell said. “We think Utah will present a good challenge for us. They lost a few swimmers from last year when they had a top 25 program nationally and upset quite a few teams that were in the top twenty. They are very formidable, very tough and they are looking forward to coming to Fayetteville and competing against an SEC team, which is something they don’t get to do too often out in Utah. This is our last meet before the SEC Championships and we will be trying to fine tune a few little things we need to correct and improve on heading into the conference championship.”
Last time out, Arkansas suffered only its second loss of the season at the hands of No. 25-ranked Missouri, falling 177-118, at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. Senior Yi-Ting Siow picked up event wins in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200y individual medley while Leah Pierce added another win in the 200y breaststroke.
Utah comes into Fayetteville with a 7-3 dual meet record on the season. The Utes earned a split last weekend against Wyoming and Air Force. Utah fell to Wyoming, 182 -115, on Friday but was able to pull out a win on Saturday against Air Force, 169-113. Arkansas is 1-0 all time against Utah.
In the last meeting, the Razorbacks won seven events on their way to a 176-121 victory over Utah in a double-dual meet with Denver on Oct. 27, 2007, at El Pomar Natatorium. Emily Gregory swept the butterfly events, while Madison Palmer took top honors on both the one- and three-meter springboards. Arkansas went 1-2-3 in the 500 and 1,650 freestyles as well as 1-2 in the 200 free, 200 fly and one-meter diving.
Saturday’s meet marks the Razorbacks final competition before traveling to the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 17-20 in Athens. Ga.
The Arkansas Natatorium is located on the corner of Stadium Drive and Meadow Street within the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building. Lot 67 off of Meadow Street between Razorback Road and Stadium Drive is available to fans free of charge on weekends. Admission is free.
In celebration of 100 Years of Razorbacks, fans entered throughout the year for a chance to be named the “Fan of the Century” for each Arkansas team. A reverse drawing Saturday will determine who the “Fan of the Century” is for swimming and diving. The finalists are Kris Smith (Leawood, Kan.), Donna Lunkenheimer (Derby, Kan.) and Charlie Bargiachi (Cordova, Tenn.).
