Preston Jenkins swims during a meet on Sept. 8, 2016. Jenkins won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke at the Intermountain Shootout. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
The BYU swim and dive teams competed against three other teams in the Intermountain Shootout on Oct. 6-7 and divers Nathan Gonzales, Matt Denkers and Morgan Cooper earned zone cuts for BYU.
Zone cuts qualify the divers to compete in the Zone E Diving Competitions, which will be held at Northern Arizona University next year.
“Overall, we had a great meet,” said BYU coach John Brooks. “This gives the coaches and athletes something to work from and improve on going into the next meet. The team’s highlights were having top times in some of the diving and swimming events.”
Men’s divers Gonzales (sophomore) and Denkers (senior) earned their zone cuts in the men’s 3-meter. Gonzales had a score of 303.55, earning him first place. Denkers placed second with a score of 298.05.
Gonzales and Denker also received zone cuts in the men’s 1-meter, along with freshman Morgan Cooper.
Senior Preston Jenkins had four first-place wins throughout the competition. The events he won included the men’s 200-yard IM with a time of 1:53.29 and the men’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51:91.
Sophomore Levi Jensen also had a first place win. He took first in the men’s 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 26.27.
The men’s team defeated Colorado Mesa University but lost to the Air Force Academy, and the women’s team defeated the Air Force Academy and Colorado Mesa University but lost to Colorado State University.
The BYU swim team wore pink swim caps in support of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Cougars are part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and will next compete in the Pacific Invite in Stockton, California. The meet will be on Oct. 27 at 8:00 p.m. MDT and continues on Oct. 28 at 11:30 a.m. MDT at Kjeldsen Pool.