GREENSBORO, NC – Arizona Swim & Dive flipped the script Thursday night at the Big 12 Championships, turning an underwhelming preliminary session into a high-energy finals performance.
The Wildcats stacked up "A" finals across multiple events, highlighted by two statement relays at the end of the night and a stacked final for the dive squad.
On the women's side, Maryam --- placed third in the 100 butterfly, and
Emma Kinsey at her first conference championships placing sixth.
Kayman Neal had a runner-up finish in the 200 free, and the 400-medley relay battled Arizona State down to the wire, placing themselves in one of the fastest relays nationally.
The men had just as much momentum on their end.
Haakon Naughton earned a silver medal in the 100 fly, while
Beck Parnham finished fourth in the 400 im.
Tomas Lukminas,
Ralph Daleiden, and
Ben Butler represented Arizona in the 200 free "A" final, finishing second, third, and sixth. The 400-medley relay nearly broke the program record, marking one of the top performances of the night.
On the boards,
Luke Hernandez earned his second podium finish as a freshman in the 1-meter event.
Gage DuBois was right behind him, earning bronze for the team.
Bo Bridges and
Colin Agor also placed fourth and sixth. On the women's side,
Zara Ayazi placed fourth in the women's 3-meter event.
"We had an underwhelming prelims session today," said head coach
Ben Loorz. "But I think the team wanted to roll into finals and prove that we are better than that. Happy to say they delivered… A great exclamation point on the day, I want us to carry that momentum into tomorrow. Also, hats off to the men's dive squad… they just lit it on fire today."
Arizona returns to the pool tomorrow, looking to build off today's momentum. The preliminary round is scheduled to start at 8:00 AM MST, and the finals at 4:00 PM MST. Live broadcasting will be available on ESPN+.
