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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 SWIMMING & DIVING Utes smash all-time records McKenzie Dean STAFF WRITER School records were shattered as the Utah men's swimming team placed fifth at the Pac-12 Conference Championships in Los Angeles last weekend. The Utes, an unexpected contender when joining the realigned conference in July, emerged into a competitive race team to finish in the middle of the pack behind USC, scoring 258.5. Utah defeated UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State and Cal Poly during the four-day championship. "We've had a huge difference from my first year to now," said junior Bjorn Gunnarsson. "We swam really well and are becoming that much closer to being a ranked team, which hasn't happened in a long time for our program." Senior and captain Major Robinson recorded the fastest 200 backstroke time in all of Utah history, touching the wall at the one-minute 45.47-second mark. He took 15th overall in the final round. Freshman Ken Tiltges and sophomore Corey Williams both rewrote previous Utah records in the 200 breaststroke, setting times of 2:01.76 and 2:02.48, respectively. Tiltges and Williams finished 13th and 15th. Two other record-breaking performances came from junior Ryan Hansen. On the final day of the championship, Hansen dropped his 1,65o freestyle time by nearly 20 seconds from his previous personal record to 15:27.03. Hansen placed loth. Along with individual races, the most exciting moment for the Utes was celebrated as the 400 relay team of Gunnarsson, Tiltges, Nick Soedel and Karson Applin recorded the 24th fastest time in the nation and the No. Utah time by three seconds. The Utes, who placed fifth in the event, defeated PHOTO COURTESY UTAH ATHLETICS Traycie Swartz is the only Ute to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which will take place next weekend in Auburn, Ala. Arizona, which had been the No. r team in the conference since November. "It was really big for our program to beat Arizona and perform as well as we did throughout the champion- ships," Gunnarsson said. "Our growth as a team this year will help us tremendously going into next swim season." Although the rest of Utah's swim and dive team is finished for the corn- AWAY COACHES continued from Page 7 continued from Page 7 starts becoming a grind," said left fielder Shaun Cooper. "You're getting back after midnight and then going to school the next day. Then you have to catch up on your school work, but at the same time, you're going to have practice later that afternoon. It all piles on top of itself and becomes stressful." Even so, Kinneberg said he's had teams that have played better on the road than at home and that it's all a matter of adjusting, which this year's Utes haven't done as well as he would have hoped. "You hope that by the time the 12th game rolls around, that when we go to Arizona State [or another Pac-12 team] it's not going to be a big shock to us," Kinneberg said. The Utes will finally play their first home game in about two weeks — a midweek game against Sacramento State — although their first home series won't be until a week after that against UCLA. As nice as finally playing some games at Spring Mobile Ballpark sounds, Kinneberg is focused on figuring out how to get his team winning some of the upcoming games on the road. "I haven't even thought about it, to be honest with you," Kinneberg said. "We have eight games until we play our first home game, so we've got to get through them first." "Norm [built the program in] what I consider to be the right way ... he didn't do it based on `we win at all cost," said SLCC athletic director Norma Carr. "He did it with emphasizing academics, emphasizing young men growing up, taking up responsibility as well as learning and improving their skills on the court." As for Connor, he was a fouryear starting point guard at the U in the '8os then spent four years as an assistant under Rick Majerus in the '9os. He then became the head man at Westminster College, building the program from the ground up after it was reinstated in the late '9os. Connor won nearly 7o percent of his games with the Griffins for more than 12 years. In ro of those years he saw Westminster win at least 20 games and they made nine NAIA National Championship appearances. Because of their prior success, coming to the U was a bit of a catch-22 for both Parrish and Connor. Being on the coaching staff of a Pac-12 squad is a career upgrade, but because of the implosion of the team a year ago, it bubba@chronicle.utah.edu petitive season, one final Ute will be going to the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Traycie Swartz claimed a spot in the 50 and roo freestyle as well as the roo backstroke at women's na- will be a long time before prominence can be restored. It is a position neither has been in since their heydays at Westminster and SLCC. "It's very difficult," Connor said. "It eats at all of us, but personally it eats at me with every loss. I'm not used to losing so it's been hard. I do have the big picture in mind, but that doesn't make losses come any easier." While losing isn't a pleasant experience for either coach, it has been refreshing in a way for Parrish. The fact that SLCC had become such a well-oiled machine was a big reason Parrish ultimately decided to leave when the opportunity to join Krystkowiak's staff came along. "I was to a point at [SLCC] where the wins weren't even rewarding," Parrish said. "They were more relief because we had built it to where you expect to win. I didn't gain a lot of joy after wins and I lost a ton of sleep after losses." Considering himself a selftaught coach, Parrish was eager to broaden his horizons and see how other coaches approached the game at a school that didn't require him to move his family. Despite losing so many games, coming to the U is a decision Parrish has embraced. "I've told people that if I would have said 'no' and stayed at SLCC, I'd be watching up here thinking, 'Man, I could have been trying that,' so I've never had second thoughts," he said. Connor definitely hasn't had second thoughts about leaving Westminster. Rather, in his return to the U after leaving in 1997, he is entirely dedicated to doing his part to bring Utah back to the glory days when the Utes' seasons would consistently stretch well into March. "This is where I'm at, this the new challenge," Connor said. "I had a wonderful experience where I was previously at Westminster. I left it in good hands. Love the guys there, love the people there, but this is who I'm about now." While losing has been hard to get used to for both Connor and Parrish, not being in charge of the team has been a nice change for them. Though Parrish misses being able to control his own schedule, both say that it has been good to have the head coaching mantle removed. At both SLCC and Westiminster, the coaching staffs are much smaller, meaning that far more responsibility rests on the head coach's shoulders. Connor even served as the athletic director MP CATCH 916]0110 MTill tionals. Swartz will represent the Utah program as she travels to compete in Auburn, Ala., from March 15 through March 17. m.dean@chronicle.utah.edu for four years at Westminster while doubling as the basketball coach. "I'm now a suggestion maker instead of a decision maker," Connor said. "When you're a head coach you carry everything with you. Everything that involves the program is on your plate, in your thoughts and with you every day. It's a big difference between the two." Though Connor and Parrish are enjoying their lighter loads, which also include traveling by plane instead of bus everywhere, they both take seriously their roles in helping the Runnin' Utes return to decency. "Even with the way we've been losing, this is where I'm putting all my heart and soul in and I'm not wishing for anything else except for more wins," Connor said. Parrish is confident that more wins are on the way, even if Utah's season will likely end Wednesday night. Though the Utes have won just six games this season, it is the fight that players and coaches continue to show which gives Parrish this confidence. Coaches and fans alike won't have to once again wait until January to see Utah's fourth victory next season. r.mcdonald@chronicle.utah.edu HA ir B SHR111111P 809 E. 400 South Salt Lake City, UT 84102 (801) 596-1107 oplik 261 mu RS TACO AND BURRITO THREE FOR T Available for a limited time only. 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