Dec. 11, 1999

LAS VEGAS - UNLV began the holiday season with an impressive performance over conference rival Utah (150-67, W, 139-96, M). The Rebels compiled first-place finishes in all but five events, four of which UNLV did not participate in: the men's and women's 1 and 3-meter diving.

Lorena Diaconescu (Bucharest, Romania) posted a career-best time of 4:53.98 in the 500 free, bettering her lead Mountain West Conference best times by more than one second.

Sophomore Jacint Simon (Kecskemet, Poland) helped secure a Rebel victory with first-place finishes in the 200 free (1:41.75) and 200 fly (1:52.41).

The next action for the Rebels will be on December 18-20 when they will host the 16TH annual Winter Invite. The largest swimming tournament in Las Vegas will be an all day event Saturday-Monday. This will be their last until after the new year.