February 7, 2007

Provo, UT (CSTV U-WIRE) -- The men's and women's swim teams split their last dual meet of the season on the road against in-state rival University of Utah.

With a commanding win over the Utes (179-121), the men secured their place as MWC regular season champions alongside the UNLV Rebels.

"We just won a regular season conference championship, so we feel good," coach Tim Powers said. "We swam well."

Three double winners, captain Brett Allen in the 50 (20.24) and 100 (45.60), Jacoby Jacobson in the 100 (51.89) and 200 (1:51.71) backstroke, and Brandon Watson in the one (349.73) and three (386.03) meter diving. These, along with a myriad of other wins, helped the team to their title-clinching victory.

"We feel confident going into conference in a few weeks," Watson said. "We want to win."

BYU women are also looking to the MWC Championships, but for different reasons. Competition was intense with the reigning champion Utes and the winner was not decided until the final race of the night. The Cougars, who ended up losing 157-142.5, are now looking forward to a rematch.

"A hundredth of a second here or there and we win that meet. There is not a lot of difference between these two teams right now," coach Stan Crump said. "I am really looking forward to the MWC meet. I can't wait."

Brittany Davis-Burke produced several wins for the Cougars, sweeping the backstroke events (57.35 and 2:03.64), and then winning the 200-medley relay (1:45.52) with teammates Angela Goodson, Natasha Menezes and Leilani Roberts. Consistently strong swims from the women keep the coach and Cougars confident heading into the MWC Championship.

"They went out tonight and raced," Crump said. "I felt we did really well."

BYU's swim teams will now have a break to prepare for the MWC Championships, which will begin Feb. 21 in Oklahoma City, Okla. The divers will wrap up their regular season against Stanford at home Friday.