Wildcat Wrap: Arizona swimming and diving tops Utah for first win of season

Editor’s note: With several sports going on, Wildcat Wrap serves as a recap that focuses on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.

Arizona swimming and diving picked up its first win of the season this past weekend as the men and women both defeated Utah in Salt Lake City.

The men topped the Utes 188-112, while the women won 151-146.

Arizona earned 15 individual winning times and took home the top spot in all four relays.

Ralph Daleiden was one of the top performers on the men’s side, winning the 100 free with a time of 44.44 and the 200 free with a 1:39.24. Haakon Naughton also earned a pair of wins for the men, posting a 49.12 in the 100 fly and a 1:49.77 in the 200 fly.

Julia Heimstead led the women with a pair of victories. She won the 100 free with a time of 50.87 and the 200 fly with a 1:58.59.

The Arizona men’s divers dominated, as well. Bjorn Markentin won the 1-meter with a score of 390.60 while Gage DuBois won the 3-meter with a score of 356.25.

Arizona returns to the pool this week when it hosts USC Friday, Nov. 3 at 1:00 p.m. MST and UCLA Saturday, Nov. 4 at 12:00 p.m. MST at Hillenbrand Aquatics Center.

Women’s golf

Women’s golf concluded the fall season with a fourth place showing at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C.

Arizona started the third and final round Sunday in the lead but couldn’t hold on, ultimately finishing 9-under par, 12 strokes off co-winners Duke and Clemson.

Arizona shot 1-under on the final day, led by Carolina Malgrati’s round of 69.

Melgrati was the top Arizona golfer for the tournament, finishing 3-under for a tie of 15th.

Gile Bite Starkute secured the Wildcats a second top-20 finish, shooting 2-under for a tie of 19th.

“Our scoring was a little up and down on the front nine today as we weren’t able to capitalize on the momentum of our tremendous second round,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “We posted more consistent scores on the back nine, but it was a little too late for us to keep up with the rest of the field. Today’s final round will be a great learning experience for us moving forward. There are a lot of positives for us to take away from the entire weekend, and I believe we will be a better team in the spring because of everything we faced.”

Arizona has the next few months off before returning to action January.

Cross country

The Arizona cross country teams competed at Pac-12 Championships last Friday in University Palace, Wash.

The men placed seventh overall while the women finished 10th. Arizona finished ahead of ASU in both races to earn a pair of Territorial Cup points.

Ian Sanchez-Lopez led Arizona with a time of 24:00.5 in the men’s 8K to finish 36th overall, followed right behind by Michael Urbanski who finished in 24:00.9.

Sailor Hutton was the top finisher on the women's side, running the 5K in 20:33.9 to finish 41st overall.

Stanford won the men’s competition, while Washington took home the women’s race.

Arizona continues its postseason on November 10 at the NCAA Western Regional Championships in Sacramento, Calif.