Feb. 25, 2005
Results
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The UNLV men won four events to extend its lead, while the Rebel women claimed two events to close with 13.5 points of first place BYU after the third day of action on Thursday night at the 2005 Mountain West Conference Swimming & Championship, held at Oklahoma City Community College.
On the men's side, UNLV put themselves in great shape to break BYU's five-year stranglehold on the conference championship, increasing its lead to 75 points as the Rebels have 571 points after 28 events. The Cougars, who have never lost a MWC championship, are second at 496, and followed by Wyoming in third (390), Utah in fourth (379), and Air Force in fifth (270).
UNLV won three individual events on the night, started by a UNLV and MWC record-setting swim in the 100 fly by Joe Bartoch, who touched the wall in 47.30, just five seconds off a NCAA automatic qualifying time. He broke the previous record of 47.90, set by UNLV's David Schick in 2002. The second win for UNLV came in the 100 breast, where Patrick Adams upset Wyoming's Scott Usher by .07, finishing in a new school record time of 54.26, also a NCAA provisional time.
Jonathan Hugo followed by winning the 100 back for the third straight year in 48.81, a NCAA provisional time, while Adam Martinson finished runner-up for the second straight year (48.94). The final win of the night for UNLV came in the 400 medley relay (Martinson, Adams, Bartoch, Brandon Nelms), as the Rebels claimed the event for the fourth time in six years in a new conference record time of 3:13.92, breaking their own record of 3:14.88 set in 2003.
In the first event of the third day, Tamas Bosnyak was a runner-up finish in the 400 IM in a time of 3:54.29, while David Rodriguez took seventh in 4:03.02. Kyle Tannehill won the consolation heat in 4:02.09. Michael Day then added a fifth-place finish in the 100 fly in a NCAA provisional time of 48.33. In the 200 free, John Byers was third in 1:39.17, Nelms eighth (1:40.62), John Pittenger 10th (1:41.00), Erik Ringdahl 11th (1:41.58), and Kyle Goodrich took 12th (1:42.03).
Two Rebels joined Adams in the 100 breast finals, as Bjorn Erickson was fifth in a NCAA provisional time of 55.52, while Curtis Robinson was sixth (55.72). Eric Culberson also placed 13th in 58.28. In the 100 back, Devin Phillips was fifth (50.77), and David Rodriguez placed 10th in 51.96.
On the women's side, UNLV is also looking to stop BYU's five-win championship win streak as they cut 5.5 points off BYU's lead, and finished the day with 463.5, behind the Cougars' 477. Utah is third at 407, followed by Colorado State in fourth (345), Wyoming in fifth (289), New Mexico in sixth (251), Air Force in seventh (142.5), and San Diego State in eighth (119).
Raluca Udroiu won her second race in as many days by claiming her second 100 back title (she also won in 2003) in a NCAA provisional time of 55.87. UNLV's other win came in the 400 free relay, as Udriou, Shayna Burns, Marina Sandback, and Jessie Bradshaw swam a time of 3:45.34.
Julie Babin scored the first points of the night for UNLV with a fourth place finish in the 400 IM (4:27.61). Sandback narrowly missed a title for the second straight night, taking runner-up in the 100 fly by .40, finishing in 55.37. Tiffany Vincent placed seventh (57.34), while Nicole Cirulis was 10th (58.15) and Jacque Hoover 13th (58.68).
UNLV placed four in the 200 free consolations, as Kari Nettenstrom was ninth (1:52.92), Lauren Browning 13th (1:53.87), Katie Wronn 15th (1:54.75), and Alison Zick 16th (1:54.91). Two Rebels finaled in the 100 breast, as Burns was third (1:04.51) and Kim Bonney sixth (1:04.81), while in the 100 back, Bradshaw was tied-second in the 100 back in 56.42, with Vincent taking fourth in 57.58. The four-day meet concludes on Saturday.
