Swimming: Air Force falls to BYU

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  The U.S. Air Force Academy men's and women's swimming and diving teams both dropped a contest to Brigham Young University Jan. 24 at the Cadet Natatorium in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

The men fell to the 23rd-ranked Cougars by a score of 147.5 to 93.5, while the women lost 155 to 82. 

The men drop to 3-6 overall, 0-3 in the Mountain West Confernce, while the women are 2-9, 0-6 in the conference.

In the men's competition, junior Justin Day from Peyton, Colo., led the way for the swimmers with a first-place finish in the 200-meter breaststroke. Junior Bryan Avery from Mililani, Hawaii, finished second in the 200 free, while senior T.J. Cowling from Newport News, Va., tied for second in the 100 free.

In addition, junior Nick Dixon from Canton, Mich., placed third in the 200 butterfly, junior Kai Yamashiro from Kaneohe, Hawaii, took third in the 200 backstroke and sophomore Sean O'Keefe from Lake Oswego, Ore., finished third in the 500 free.

For the divers, sophomore Kyle Van Valkenburg from Tucson, Ariz., took first-place in both the 1- and 3-meter dives, scoring season-best marks in each event. In the 1-meter dive, Van Valkenburg scored a 291.00, while registering a 298.50, besting his previous season-high by nearly 30 points. Classmate David Arlington from Eagle River, Alaska, finished second in the 3-meter dive with a season-best score of 294.68 and third in the 1-meter dive.

On the women's side, the team of freshman Kaeli Kluesner from Denver, junior Jane Hwang from Irvine, Calif., freshman Jessica Rodgers from Colorado Springs, and freshman Kelly Grabarek from Laguna Niguel, Calif., turned in a season-best mark of 4:04.74 in the 400 medley relay to finish second in the event.

Hwang recorded the lone top finish for the Air Force women, taking the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:55.39, while also finishing second in the 100 free. Freshmen Betsy Scarberry from Fairborn, Ohio, and Caitlin Teresky from Newtown, Pa., placed second and third, respectively, in the 1000 free, while Scarberry also finished third in the 500 free.

Kluesner notched a pair of third-place finishes, coming in third in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke, while sophomore Becky Gleason from Ballwin, Mo., placed third in both the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. Also registering a top-three finish for the Falcons was Rodgers, who came in third in the 50 free.

The Falcons are back in action Jan. 26 when they host Utah in their last home dual of the season. The contest, slated to begin at 1 p.m., will be the final home meet for the Air Force seniors.

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