Feb. 28, 2015 Complete Results
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) - For the second time in three years UNLV clinched a conference championship on the final event, as the Rebels won the 400 free relay in a NCAA 'A' Automatic time to take the overall team title by 10 points over Air Force on Saturday night at the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. UNLV had entered the final race with a just a two-point edge over the Falcons, but held off a late charge from Grand Canyon to take the relay title and claim the 2015 championship with a final team score of 715.5 points. Air Force finished third in the race, and would settle for a runner-up finish with 705.5 points. Wyoming took third at 691.5, and Grand Canyon was fourth with 544.5 points in the seven-team field.
This is the second straight WAC title for the Rebels, and third conference championship in a row after UNLV won the 2013 MPSF crown. It also gives UNLV 10 total conference championships in the past 11 years, after starting their dynasty with seven straight league titles in the Mountain West (2005-11). UNLV's Jim Reitz was named the WAC Men's Coach of the Year, while Dillon Virva was awarded the WAC Men's Swimmer of the Year honor.
UNLV began the night in the lead, but then dropped down to third after the first two events, the 1650 free and the 200 back. UNLV's top finisher in the 1650 free was Matt Roe, who placed eighth in a time of 15:39.58. Despite Henrique Machado winning the next event, the 200 back, in a new league and school record time of 1:43.41, UNLV was still 23 points out of the lead. Hannon Daigler also scored for UNLV in the event, placing seventh in a time of 1:47.58, the seventh fastest in UNLV history.
The Rebels took control in the next event, the 100 free, scoring an impressive 62 points in the race after going 2-3-4-9-12. Tom Paco-Pedroni finished runner-up for the Rebels, as his time of 43.42 was .19 seconds behind winner Adam Kalms of Wyoming. Samuel Lameynardie took third for UNLV in 43.61 and Dillon Virva was fourth in 43.91, all three earning NCAA 'B' times. Or Sabatier won the consolation heat with a time of 44.02 that was also a 'B' time, while Forrest Beesley was 12th in 44.73. That put UNLV ahead of Air Force by 16 points.
UNLV's lead shrunk to one point after the 200 breast, Scoring for UNLV in the event was a pair of freshman, Boris Kulizhnikov, third in a 'B' time of 1:59.59, the ninth-fastest time in UNLV history, and Francois Van Wynseberghe, eighth in 2:01.36. Just as quickly, the Rebels bounced back by taking three of the top four spots in the 200 fly to go ahead 581.5-565.5 over the Falcons. Freshman Avi Cohen led the way, out-touching teammate Balint Batka at the end with a winning time of 1:45.17, a 'B' time and the fifth fastest in program history. Batka was second in 1:45.32 and Joe Riggert took fourth in 1:47.74, with both times 'B' marks as well.
UNLV had just one diver in this year's meet, so despite Lucas James' strong peformance on the platform, where he placed fourth with a score of 277.80, that allowed Air Force to use its four divers to catch up, closing the margin to 675.5-673.5 going into the final relay. Just needing to finish ahead of the Falcons in the race to seal the team title, the Rebels did that and more, earning their third 'A' time of the meet, with Paco-Pedroni, Virva, Beesley and Lamerynardie touching the wall in 2:53.05, .45 seconds ahead of Grand Canyon and 2.06 seconds ahead of the Air Force squad. It gave UNLV its second straight title in the event and sixth in the last seven years, and was the third-fastest time in school history.
The Rebels will next be in action at next month's NCAA Championships, to be held on March 26-28 at the University of Iowa.
2015 Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimming & Diving ChampionshipsPalo Alto Aquatic CenterSan Antonio, TexasSaturday, February 28Fourth Day ResultsTeam Scoring1. UNLV 715.5
2. Air Force 705.5
3. Wyoming 691.5
4. Grand Canyon 544.5
5. Bakersfield 370.5
6. North Dakota 257.5
7. Seattle U 191
WAC Men's Swimmer of the Year
WAC Coach of the Year
Jim Reitz
Top-Eight Finishes1650 Free: 8th place - Matt Roe (15:39.58)
New WAC Records Set
200 Back - 1:43.41 (Henrique Machado)
^ - NCAA 'A' Automatic Time* - NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
