Jan. 17, 2008

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving teams will hold its final home meets of the season this weekend. The action starts on Friday, when the Rebels will host conference rival Wyoming, and the women's team from New Mexico, in a tri-meet beginning at 5 pm. Saturday's action will be against Air Force, and will also serve as the Rebels' Senior Day, which will begin at 1 pm. All the action will be held at Buchanan Natatorium on the UNLV campus.

Both Rebel teams are 2-1 in league meets this year, though this will be the first dual meet action for the teams in over two months. The Rebels did keep busy during those two months however, with several strong swims in the Texas Invitational at the end of November. December saw the Rebel women claim first in the UNLV Winter Invite while the men were second. After the beginning of 2008, the Rebels competed in the UC Irvine Sprint and Distance Invitationals, where the Rebel men claimed the title in the distance competition while taking third in the sprint meet. The UNLV women were third in both meets.

On the men's side, UNLV is led by its distance swimmers, as freshman Kier Maitland holds the sixth fastest time in the nation in the 1650 free, while Jonas Andersson is one of the fastest breaststrokes in the conference.

For the Rebel women, Bailey Kuestermeyer is one of the strongest all-around swimmers in the Mountain West, ranking in the top five in five events, while the Rebels also hold four of the top five fastest times in the 100 back. Kim Bonney also tops the league in both breaststroke events as well.