I FBkUy, January 1 J, 1988 CtaofticU Utah' swimmers By Glenn Seninger Chronicle assistant sports editor Paqc ElevEN are back in acWon Ms weekend It has become almost an unwritten tradition for the Utah swimming team to take on a foreign university in a meet over the Christmas break. And for U. coaches Don Reddish and Jim Wilson, this year was no different. While most Utahns were staying indoors trying to keep warm during the snowstorms of late December, the men were swimming laps in the Olympic size swimming pool of Co Co Yoc, Mexico. And the women's team found out that the tropically warm waters of Hawaii can produce some of the year's fastest times. ..S.KSt.. .lattiiyrjjfh ml m up m in tVHww . - W . "I just can't explain why we did so well," Wilson, the women's and men's head coach, explained. "Some of our girls turned in the best times of the year and broke some school records." The Lady "Utes" won the meet in convincing fashion, V v 121-9- 1. One of lady swimmers who set new records was Kathy Doman. She recorded a school and a pool record in the 50 freestyle with a 23:80. The freshman from Modesto, Calif., also set a record in the 100 freestyle with a 52:10. Another outstanding performance was turned in by Karin Palle who grabbed a school record in the 1,000 freestyle with a 10:22. But Palle, another California native from Mission Viejo, was equalled in performance by the U.'s 400 relay team. Laura Mueller and Eva Axelsson The combination of proved to be too much for Hawaii as Utah dumped the 1985 PCAA champion. "Going into the meet I thought we would just place with some average times," Wilson said. "But everybody did great and turned in the best times of the year." Whatever the case maybe, Wilson is hoping his swimmers will be able to equal, if not exceed, their performances in Hawaii in today's meet against New Mexico in the U. natatorium beginning at 4 p.m. "Our girls are coming along and if we can all stay healthy we should do well in our upcoming meet," Wilson added. For the men, things went just as smoothly. Utah easily won the meet in Mexico, giving Reddish's team a chance to train, as well as see another part of the world. rhronide photo four-memb- er Schedule heats up as U. skiers head to Wyoming for meet Last week's Utah Invitational win for Coach Pat Miller's team turned into a learning experience. Miller looked on as both his men's and the women's teams had surprising performances. "I feel optimistic about the way we started," Miller said. "But what happened to our men's relay team was unpredictable. I think that's probably the worst finish we'll have on the men's side all year." For the men's nordic team, last week's performance was not one to remember. The men's relay team lost its first intercollegiate meet in more than two years finishing a disappointing fourth. Individually, however, Hans Martin Sjulstad placed first in the-- nordic competition with teammates Lars Ohren (second), Justin Wadsworth (fourth) and Erik Baumann (eighth) right behind. was Utah's In the alpine events, Henrik Smith-Meyskiers in highest finisher in third. The women placed four showing. the top 12, with Kjersti Nilsen's second-plac- e will be and week last field They overwhelmed the slalom hoping to do the same in Wyoming. " The meet was a good confidence builder for our alpine teams. They really showed some class and skied well as a team," Miller said. ' The women's team was paced by Anne Kari Aas, who finished second in cross country competition. The men's relay team will be looking to redeem itself this week as it will be heading for the even cooler slopes of the Cowboy State and the Wyoming Invitational in Medicine er Bow. Some of the schools Utah will be going head to head with in the alpine competition are Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Each of these teams attended last week's invitational held at Park City, so Utah won't be seeing any new competition. Miller feels good about the way his team is skiing and thinks that with the training they have received in these meets, it will definitely be a plus. "I think you'll see us, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming improve 20 to 30 points in the next few weeks," he said. "It usually takes a while for our new skiers to learn to race for the team and not as individuals." On the shelf for this meet is Utah's Anne Grevy, out with an infected toe. Miller is still hoping she will be able to participate in Wyoming. Erik Baumann is still suffering from a sprained ankle, but should also be skiing in Wyoming this weekend. After the Wyoming trip the U. will head to Winter Park, 0. Colo., for the Colorado Invitational, Jan. Alaska-Anchora- ge. 29-3- Glenn Seninger by Guy li. lilJer 1' Utah swimmer Rickard Johansson takes a moment to smile after winning a race in the U. Natatorium. Both Utah's men's and women's teams will be back in action there beginning today when they take on New Mexico and New Mexico State. "Even though it is a beautiful place, we got some good training in," Reddish said. "We competed against some fairly good teams and overall it was an enjoyable trip." Now that both teams are back from their trips south of the border and paradise island, Wilson and Reddish are gearing up their teams for New Mexico and New Mexico State. Today's meet has" the Utah women taking on conference foe New Mexico, while Saturday's meet finds the Aggies of New Mexico State testing the waters against the U. The men are once again off to their usual outstanding start with a record in dual meets looking every bit the part of defending conference champions. And the women, with their holiday explosion over in Hawaii, have proven Wilson's swimmers are definitely going to be a force to reckon with. The women's meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. while the men's meet will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, the two teams p opponents with the women's meet starting at 1 1 a.m. The men jump in at 2 p.m. 5-- 1 flip-tlo- Netters prepare to defend WAC championship The prospect of repeating as WAC tennis champions is a realistic one for Utah's men's tennis team. Saturday at the Sports Mall, U. Coach F.D. Robbins will get his first chance to see his team compete this season. The Saturday match gets underway at 2 p.m. with Utah facing Weber State. Robbins, who wouldn't say who would be playing in the top three spots, is excited for the match and hopes it will be able to show him how good this '88 team is. Robbins already has an idea about the Wildcats. "This is the best team Weber State has had in the past few years," Robbins said. -- Playing in the No. 1 singles spot for Weber State freshman Lindsay Rawstrone. A is native of France, Rawstrone may be one of the better players Utah will face this year. While Utah and Weber State are not in the same conference, they are in the same region and come NCAA tournament time, only one school can be selected from this region. With that in mind, both schools should be at their best. "This could be a good test to see how good we really are," Robbins said. Kent Condon gymnastics- from page ten Last year the Sooners finished fifth with a score of 184.60 in the NCAA Midwest Regionals, held at Arizona State. But Oklahoma premises to be be an improved team over last year with the return of one of the nation's top gymnasts, Kelly Garrison-Steve- s. a junior from Altus, Okla., wowed the women's gymnastics world as a sophomore as she won the title at last year's NCAA gymnastics championships in Salt Lake Garrison-Steve- all-arou- s, nd (rvl i City. The Sooners will return a number of strong juniors to their lineup, as well. They include Tatiana Figueiredo, Mary Jean Mylott, Diana Anglin, Alysa Silberlicht, Kambry Pollard and Cassie Frey. Two seniors for OU, Brenda Leonard and Patricia Williams, both should add the experience needed in the Sooner lineup. Their coach, Becky Buwick, has compiled an amazing record while coaching at Oklahoma since her arrival in 1984. In fact, her winning percentage of .875, is higher than Sooner football coaching great Barry Switzer's. The Utah, is looking to bounce back after last season's disappointment. Whether it can remains to be seen. "Until a team competes it's kind of a mystery as to how they'll do," Marsden said. And for Marsden, the mystery will be solved when he see's his team tangle with the Sooners on Monday. Jill Stuart, competing in the floor exercise last year, should be a mainstay on the Utah gymnastics team this season. vjunnicic photo by Steven C. Wilson