March 24, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - With a pair of honorable mention All-American swims in the 200 yard free and 400 yard medley relays, UNLV scored 16 points to stand in 19th place after the first day of action on Thursday at the 2005 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.

The Rebels placed 13th in both the 200 free and 400 medley relays, which marks the highest finish ever for a UNLV relay team at the NCAA Championships. Only twice before has UNLV had a top-16 relay finish, with both coming at the 2000 championships (200 free relay - 14th, 400 free relay - 15th).

Brandon Nelms, Joe Bartoch, Jonathan Hugo, and Bjorn Erickson teamed up to swim a 1:20.11 in Thursday's finals of the 200 free relay. California won the event with a new NCAA record time of 1:15.78. Hugo, Patrick Adams, Bartoch, and Nelms made up the 400 medley squad that touched the wall in 3:16.34. Winning the 400 medley relay was Stanford, in a time of 3:06.35.

With 16 points, UNLV is just one point behind Virginia (18th), and two behind Tennessee and Indiana (tied at 16th). Auburn leads the team standings after the first day with 172 points, while Arizona is second at 130 and California is third at 126. UNLV is the only Mountain West school to have scored points in the meet thus far.

Also swimming in individual action in the morning preliminaries, Nelms finished 38th in the 50 free in 20.11, while Bartoch was 50th with a time of 20.64.

The three day meet continues Friday, and will conclude on Saturday.

2005 Men's NCAA Swimming & Diving ChampionshipsUniversity of Minnesota Aquatics CenterMinneapolis, Minn.
Thursday, March 24First Day Results
Team Scoring19th. UNLV-16 points
50 Free - 38th - Brandon Nelms (20.11), 50th - Joe Bartoch (20.64).200 free relay - 13th - UNLV - Nelms, Bartoch, Hugo, Eriksson (1:20.11)400 medley relay - 13th - UNLV - Hugo, Adams, Bartoch, Nelms (3:16.34).