Feb. 27, 2009
Results
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -
Feb. 27, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The UNLV men continued their dominance at the 2009 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday night, extending their overall team lead to 171.5 points with just one day left after setting three new league records, while the Rebels were the story of the day on the women's side, moving up two spots to trail overall leader BYU by just 29.5 points.
The 24th-ranked Rebel men, who are looking to defend their title for the fifth straight year, won the first four events of the night, all by four different Rebels who would claim their first career individual conference title. It began with Tyler Bush, as he swam a time of 3:56.50 in the 400 IM, which ranks seventh all-time at UNLV. John Mendoza would place fifth in the event in 3:58.56.
David Seiler claimed his first career title as he broke former Rebel John Bartoch's three-year old conference record in the 100 fly with a time of 46.88, which is also a NCAA "B" cut. Teammate Peter Lorring took fourth in 47.66, while Steven Nelms was fourth in 47.88 and Daniel Egly finished 10th in 49.35.
Kyle Virva continued the Rebel win streak as he touched the wall first in the 200 free in 1:36.46, which ranks him third in UNLV history and is a NCAA "B" time. Kier Maitland placed fourth in 1:37.51 and Calan Eldridge was ninth in 1:37.69. Freshman Akos Molnar would take the 100 breast title in a new MWC record time of 53.28 while classmate Andrew Morrell was runner-up in 53.79, and both earned "B" times.
The win streak was snapped in the 100 back, as Marshall Dilworth would win by .35 seconds, but the Rebels still cleaned up in the event, taking second, third, fourth, fifth, and a tie for sixth place. Jeff Ellingsen would take runner-up honors in 48.62, and was followed by Nick Blank (48.78), Seiler (48.83) and Michael Lowenstein (48.94). Lorring would tie for sixth as he touched the wall in 49.37.
The Rebels ended the night with its third MWC record of the day, as Ellingsen, Molnar, Seiler, and Charlie Tapp combined to swam a 3:12.91 in the 400 medley relay, winning in a "B" cut.
UNLV stands in first with 582.5 points, while Air Force is far back in second with 411. Wyoming is third (372), BYU fourth (363.5), TCU fifth (272), and Utah rounds out the field in sixth (223).
Freshman Zsuszanna Jakabos crushed the field in the women's 400 IM, winning by over six seconds as she posted a new MWC record time of 4:06.70, which also easily gave her a NCAA automatic "A" time. She was one of four Rebels scoring in the top seven, as Ana Dangalakova took third in 4:14.85, Bailey Kuestermeyer placed fourth in 4:18.26, and Marley Prothero swam 4:23.28 for seventh place.
Also winning an event for the Rebel women was Marva Harpak, who claimed the 200 free title in 1:47.42, a NCAA "B" time and the second-fastest in school history. Lisa Gillespie took third in the event with 1:48.41, while Friderika Szel was ninth in 1:50.80.
Amanda Weinbrecht posted two runner-up finishes on the night, beginning in the 100 fly, where she swam a school record and "B" time of 53.12. Katie Matulic was 10th in 56.17. In the 100 back, Weinbrecht would touch the wall in 53.86 for second, with freshman Anja Crawford placing ninth in 56.37.
Kelsey Clarke would place seventh in the 100 breast (1:04.09) with Elise Warren earning 14th in a time of 1:04.64. UNLV would claim third in the 400 medley relay, as Weinbrecht, Kelsey Clarke, Jakabos, and Harpak swam a school record time of 3:41.50.
BYU finished the day with 422 points, while UNLV is close behind in second with 392.5. In third is Wyoming with 359, and they are followed by Utah in fourth (340.5), Colorado State in fifth (298), San Diego State in sixth (242), TCU in seventh (222), New Mexico in eighth (162), and Air Force rounds out the field in ninth with 80 points.
The four-day meet concludes on Saturday.
