Nov. 30, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas - UNLV senior Brandon Nelms took fourth place in the 50 free and helped the UNLV men post a pair of top-four relay finishes to stand in fifth place after the first day of action in the University of Texas Invitational on Thursday. The Rebel men scored 121 points, while the UNLV women stand in 12th with 13 points. Arizona leads both the men's and women's team standings.

Nelms was one of two Rebels in the top eight in the 50 free. He turned in a time of 20.15, while Richard Hortness placed eighth in 20.45. Hortness and Nelms teamed up along with Devin Phillips and John Byers to place third in the 200 free relay in 1:20.88. UNLV's 400 medley relay squad of Phillips, Jonas Andersson, Byers, and Nelms finished the night with a fourth-place swim in 3:17.27.

Also for the Rebel men, Johan Claar finished 16th in the 500 free (4:32.27), Tamas Bosnyak was 24th in the 200 IM (1:52.30), while Tiger Christian and Byers finished 23rd and 26th, respectively

On the women's side, Marina Sandback, Marva Harpak, Katie Wronn, and Kim Bonney finished 12th in the 200 free relay in a time of 1:35.57. Individually, Sandback placed 14th in the 50 free (23.48), Bailey Kuestermeyer was 25th in the 200 IM (2:04.07), and Harpak placed 31st in the 500 free in 5:01.24.

The three-day invitational continues Friday, and concludes on Saturday.