Nov. 20, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The UNLV men's swimming and diving team won three events, including both relays, to move to the top of the team standings after the first day of the 2008 UC Irvine/Nike Cup, while the Rebel women were in fifth place.
The highlight of the day for UNLV on the men's side was Kier Maitland's swim in the 500 free, as he won the event in a NCAA 'B' time of 4:25.45. Teammate John Mendoza was just .01 seconds behind for second, and also earned a NCAA 'B' time. The other wins for the UNLV men came in the two relays. Steven Nelms, Calan Eldridge, Charlie Tapp, and Thomas Andolfsson won the 200 free relay with a time of 1:22.05. Jeff Ellingsen, Andrew Morrell, David Seiler, and Eldridge then finished the night winning the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:20.31.
Other top swimmers for UNLV included Nick Blank, fourth in the 200 IM (1:51.60), and Andolfsson, fourth in the 50 free (20:86).
UNLV scored 382 points to top the men's standings after the first day, while Air Force is second with 336, and BYU third at 278.
The Rebel women had 210 points on the first day to stand in fifth, trailing BYU (351.5), San Jose State (263), Nevada, Reno (230), and San Diego State (226).
Bailey Kustermeyer had the highest finish of the day for UNLV, placing fifth in the 500 free (4:57.61). Lisa Gillespie was 14th in the 200 IM (2:08.61) and Megan Clark took eighth in the 50 free (24.04). UNLV placed third in the 200 free relay (1:35.27) , and was fourth in the 400 medley relay (3:50.85).
The three-day meet continues on Friday, and concludes on Saturday.
