Malia Rausch Wins Three Times as Arizona, Utah Split Taut Two-Day Duals
Malia Rausch won two individual events on Day 2 and anchored the Arizona B relay for the clinching points as the Wildcats rallied for a 151-149 win over Pac-12-turned-Big-12 rival Utah.
The men’s race was nearly as tight, with Utah claiming a 159.5-140.5 win over two days at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
Utah finished Day 1 of the meet with a slight lead, but Rausch set about narrowing it from the first race of Saturday morning. She went 1:51.12 to edge Utah’s Lily Milner, who ended Day 1 by winning the 100 freestyle, by .17 seconds in the 200 free. Rausch returned later in the session to claim the 500 free in 4:56.63.
With the meet on the line in the final relay, Arizona split its forces. Lexi Duchsherer, the runner-up in the 50 free and third in the 100 free, and 100 free runner-up Alyssa Schwengel manned the A team that won in 3:22.14, beating Utah’s A squad by 1.6 seconds. Rausch brought home the B team in 3:27.09, nine seconds clear of Utah for the two points and the win.
Arizona won only two races on the opening day, Duchsherer anchoring a medley relay victory and Ava Sutphin claiming the 1,000 free, with Rausch third. On Saturday, Eleni Gewalt won the 100 breast to buoy the Wildcats. Brooke Earley won 3-meter diving and finished third on 1-meter. Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh went 56.21 to win the 100 fly.
Utah put itself in a strong position on Day 1. Consecutive wins by Norah Hay in the 200 back, Abby Pope in the 200 fly, Rylee McColley in the 200 breast and Milner in the 100 free seemed to give them the upper hand. But Milner and Pope (500 free) managed second-place finishes on Saturday, while McColley was third in the 100 breast. Erin Palmer won the 50 free in 23.13, edging Duchsherer by .01, after she had finished second in the 100 breast. Emilia Nilsson Garip won 1-meter diving, and Holly Waxman had two top-three diving finishes, then Ella Derby claimed the 200 IM, but it wasn’t quite enough.
The Utah men had better luck holding their Day 1 lead. It gave itself a cushion thanks to some big early scores. Nick Chirafisi won the 1,000 free in 9:22.72, with teammate Owen Carlsen second. The 200 free brought a win for Brandon Miller (1:48.95) ahead of Parker McOmber and Strahinja Maslo. McOmber had led off Utah’s win in the 200 medley relay, then got the first win for the Utes on Day 2 in the 100 back.
Chirafisi added a win in the 500 free. Evan VanBrocklin was second in both fly events. Elias Petersen finished second by less than a point to Arizona’s Gage Dubois (348.45) on 1-meter, then bested him on 3-meter with a score of 367.43, giving Utah a 13-6 edge in that event. Kelson Flynn went 1:49.69 to win the 200 IM with Maslo third to all but seal the deal. Will Woodall also won the 50 free Saturday.
Arizona’s fight back was fueled by mid-distance freestyle. Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri put wind in Arizona’s sails at the end of Day 1 with his win in the 100 free in 43.80, a sweep of the top four spots, with Tomas Lukminas second. Daleiden Ciuferri and Lukminas went 1-2 in the 200 free to start Day 2. The Luxembourg Olympian Daleiden Ciuferri also finished second in the 50 free and teamed with Lukminas and Mason Hopper, who was third in the 100 free, to win the 400 free relay.
Haakon Naughton did the butterfly double, then finished second in the 200 IM. Daniel Young swept both male breaststroke events, the 200 win helping Arizona finish Day 1 with three straight wins and the 100 furnishing a 1-2 with Tavner Wisdom. Mason Nyboer was third in the 1,000 and second in the 500.
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