Feb. 25, 2006
Final Results
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Year Joe Bartoch won his second individual conference title of the meet and the UNLV men won three events on the final day on the way to winning its second straight conference title at the 2006 MWC Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday night at Oklahoma City Community College. Rebel head coach Jim Reitz was also named MWC men's Coach of the Year for the second straight year. The UNLV women, defending league champions, finished in third place with 587 points, behind first place Utah, who won its first-ever MWC title with 679.5 points.
The Rebel men crushed the rest of the field on Saturday, claiming wins in the 100 free, 200 back, and 400 free relay and finished with 763 points, 145 more then runner-up BYU. Air Force was third at 526, Wyoming took fourth (520, Utah was fifth (513), and TCU finished sixth (489).
"The key to our success was that we swam consistently well for the entire weekend," said Reitz. "A good amount of gratitude should also be given to all that have supported the philosophy of UNLV swimming.
Bartoch set his second MWC record in as many days, swimming 43.63 to claim the 100 yard free title. Bartoch then helped swim the 400 free relay to its fifth title in seven years, as he teamed up with Richard Hortness, Brandon Nelms, and John Byers to swim a time of 2:56.96. With the relay win, UNLV became the first-ever school to sweep all five relays, and the time tied for second-fastest ever at UNLV. Also claiming a conference title for the Rebel men was Adam Martinson, as in the night's first event, he just outtouched Utah's Andrew Cole by .10 seconds in the 200 back, winning in 1:46.65, giving him the title for the third straight year.
Also scoring in the 200 back was Kyle Tannehill in fourth (1:48.65), Tiger Christian in fifth (1:49.46), Devin Phillips in seventh (1:50.26), and Jeff Ellingsen in 11th (1:51.68). In the 100 free, Nelms finished in third in 44.23, Hortness was fifth (44.85), Byers seventh (45.51), and John Pittenger 13th (45.98).
Jonas Andersson and Curtis Robinson went 3-4 in the 200 breast, as Andersson swam 2:01.08. third-fastest ever at UNLV, while Robinson was close behind in 2:02.21. Andrian Law finished seventh in the 200 fly in 1:52.37, while Tamas Bosnyak taking ninth (1:51.56), Erik Ringdahl 13th (1:55.34), and Matt Morton 14th (1:56.07). In the final individual event, Johan Claar finished third in the 1650 free in 15:30.52, with Ringdahl taking 11th in 16:07.82.
For the Rebel women in the 200 back, Ana Dangalakova took fourth in 2:02.82, seventh-fastest ever at UNLV, Amanda Weinbrecht was sixth (2:03.31), and Megan Hunt-Higgins finished 13th in 2:06.89. UNLV placed third in the finals of the 100 free, with Katie Wronn (51.57), Lauren Browning (51.67), and Marina Sandback (51.85), finishing sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.
Bailey Kuestermeyer was runner-up in the 200 breast, finishing in 2:16.03, second-fastest in school history, while 2005 champion Kim Bonney was fourth in 2:17.61. Norah Vogan also scored in the event, taking 10th in 2:21.81. Jenna Neff was 15th in the 200 fly (2:09.96), and the Rebels took second and fourth in the 1650 free, as Alison Zick swam 17:03.84, and Lani Seaman finished in 17:06.40.
Nichole McLean was the only diver to score for the Rebels, as she placed seventh with a score of 199.75. In the final event for the women, Browning, Wronn, Jessie Bradshaw, and Sandback set a new school record in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:23.91, just .12 seconds behind Utah.
The NCAA women's championships will be held on Mar. 16-18 in Athens, Ga., while the men's will be at Atlanta, Ga., from March 23-25.
