Utah Tech Competing for WAC Title in Swimming

Conference championships are a the goal of any college program. Utah Tech swimming has an opportunity this week to get team and individual championships. Here is the press release from UT Athletics Media Relations: (full article)

Utah Tech will close out season at the 2024 Western Athletic Conference Swim and Dive Championships, which will be held this Wednesday-through-Saturday, at the Pfarr Natatorium in Pfarr, Texas.

The four-day meet will be streamed live each day, with preliminary heats shown on the WAC International Network (wacinternational.tv), while all event finals will be streamed on ESPN+ (plus.espn.com).

COACHING STAFF: Utah Tech alumnus Shawn King was named the fourth head coach for the Utah Tech women's swimming program this past August 19.
Coach King, who also served as an assistant coach with the Trailblazer program during the 2020-21 season, arrived back at his alma mater after spending the past two years as an assistant men's and women's swim coach at BYU. While with the Cougars' program, he served as the distance coach and the men's team recruiting coordinator.
In his first season at BYU, Coach King helped guide the Cougar men's team to repeat as MPSF conference champions, leading a resurgent BYU distance program to its highest finishes in the last 10 years. Successes from that season included three of the top five finishes in the women's 1650 at the MPSF conference meet, and new BYU team records for the men's 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle. King also helped freshman standout Tanner Nelson to MPSF Freshman of the Year honors, and NCAA qualification in the 400 IM.
Coach King continued to build on that success during the 2022-2023 season, during which he helped lead the BYU men's team to its third-consecutive MPSF championship. King also helped further the development of the BYU distance program, adding new BYU all-time top-five performances for men and women in the 200 free, 500 free, and 1650.
Coach King started his collegiate coaching career at then-Dixie State during the 2020-21 season, during which he served as assistant coach overseeing the distance team. Working with athletes coming through the pandemic and helping guide the Trailblazers during the program's first NCAA Division I transition season, King mentored many of the team's distance swimmers to both career and collegiate best times.
King has coached athletes from prep levels to the national level with USA Swimming while working with clubs in Utah, Idaho, Texas, Illinois, and Florida. His athletes' accomplishments include multiple Utah state record holders, U.S. national qualifiers, and Division I and Division II collegiate athletes.
Coach King is joined poolside by first-year assistant coach Colby Clark.

LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech posted several top season marks in its final 2023-24 regular season finale at the UNLV First Chance Invite this past Feb. 16 in Las Vegas.
The Blazers combined to record eight top-10 all-time program marks on Friday, two of which were posted in individual races by freshmen. Cera Mallory clocked the program's eighth-fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle with a team season-best 1:51.68, while Grace Benson swam the seventh-fastest 50 free time with a team season-best 23.70.
The other six top marks came in relay time trials, starting with the 200 medley relay A team that touched the wall in 1:44.38 (#7 all-time at Utah Tech).
Senior Eleonore Rembert just missed breaking her own school record in the 50 back by two-tenths of a second with an opening leg time of 25.43 (#2 all-time at Utah Tech), while Skyler Lyon, Benson and Danyael Cuison took it the rest of the way. Meanwhile, freshman Mary Sims Cross led off the B team's race with a 26.32 back (#8 all-time at Utah Tech).
The 400 free relay team of Mandy Farnum, Lainey Devine, Benson and Natalia Zmierczak clocked the fourth-fastest time in school history with a 3:27.24, with Farnum opening with a 51.42 (#8 all-time at Utah Tech) 100 time.
In the final relay time trial, the 200 free relay, the team of Farnum, Tavia Stemmons, Rembert and Zmierczak swam the eighth-fastest time in program history at 1:35.68.

TRAILBLAZERS IN THE WAC: Utah Tech owns several top WAC individual marks heading into this weekend's conference championship meet.
50 Free
12. Grace Benson – 23.70 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
18. Mandy Farnum – 23.79 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
23. Eleonore Rembert – 23.90 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
27. Natalia Zmierczak – 23.97 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
28. Sorina Rom – 23.99 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

100 Free
13. Mandy Farnum – 51.42 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
21. Cera Mallory – 51.92 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
25. Eleonore Rembert – 52.16 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
27. Lainey Devine – 52.19 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
32. Natalia Zmierczak – 52.26 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
33. Grace Benson – 52.27 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

200 Free
14. Cera Mallory – 1:51.68 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
19. Natalia Zmierczak – 1:52.13 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

500 Free
10. Cera Mallory – 4:57.36 (at NAU Dual)
20. Paulina Sansores – 5:02.58 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

1,000 Free
3. Cera Mallory – 10:06.78 (at NAU Dual)
25. Kaiya Lawson – 10:59.28 (vs. Idaho Dual)

1,650 Free
6. Cera Mallory – 17:05.05 (vs. Idaho Dual)
19. Kaiya Lawson – 18:15.30 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
22. Paulina Sansores – 18:33.74 (at San Diego Dual)

50 Back
4. Eleonore Rembert – 25.43 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
8. Mary Sims Cross – 26.16 (at NAU Dual)

100 Back
2. Eleonore Rembert – 54.78 (at NAU Dual)
5. Mary Sims Cross – 55.12 (at NAU Dual)

200 Back
12. Mary Sims Cross – 2:01.71 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
19. Eleonore Rembert – 2:03.18 (at San Diego Dual)

50 Breast
4. Skyler Lyon – 29.21 (at NAU Dual)
9. Grace Benson – 29.62 (at NAU Dual)
31. Ellianne Effland – 31.63 (at NAU Dual)
32. Sorina Rom – 31.65 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

100 Breast
3. Skyler Lyon – 1:02.64 (at NAU Dual)
12. Grace Benson – 1:04.22 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
26. Sorina Rom – 1:06.65 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
31. Ellianne Effland – 1:07.69 (at NAU Dual)

200 Breast
4. Skyler Lyon – 2:17.16 (at NAU Dual)
21. Ellianne Effland – 2:23.32 (at NAU Dual)

50 Fly
12. Tavia Stemmons – 26.22 (at NAU Dual)
14. Danyael Cuison – 26.28 (at NAU Dual)
16. Mandy Farnum – 26.38 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
17. Abigail Hill – 26.46 (at NAU Dual)
20. Mary Sims Cross – 26.66 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)

100 Fly
12. Mandy Farnum – 56.39 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
13. Abigail Hill – 56.47 (at NAU Dual)
14. Mary Sims Cross – 56.49 (at UNLV First Chance Inv'l)
21. Danyael Cuison – 57.15 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
23. Tavia Stemmons – 57.27 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

200 Fly
18. Abigail Hill – 2:04.94 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

100 IM
3. Grace Benson – 57.20 (at NAU Dual)
6. Mary Sims Cross – 5799 (at NAU Dual)

200 IM
9. Mary Sims Cross – 2:04.52 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)
22. Grace Benson – 2:06.22 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)

400 IM
19. Kaiya Lawson – 4:33.14 (at NAU Dual)
23. Ellianne Effland – 4:37.76 (at UT Trailblazer Inv'l)