Feb. 18, 2016 COLLEGE STATION, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) -
A rare strong showing in the diving events helped move the UNLV Rebels up one spot into fourth place after the second day of action finished Thursday night at the 2016 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, held at the Texas A&M Natatorium. The Rebels jumped past San Jose State into fourth with 161 points, and lead fifth-place Wyoming by nine (152). Nevada, Reno continues to led the meet with 284 points, followed by Boise State in second (254.5) and San Diego State in third (213).
The opening event on Thursday, the 200 free relay, saw the Rebels take fifth in a time of 1:30.92. Julia Fehervari, Michelle Troup, Elena Gavrilova and Lina Rathsack made up that relay squad. The next event saw one of the best showings by the Rebel divers in the past few years, as freshman Alyssa Arnett turned in a career-high score of 323.65 to place fourth overall on the 3-meter board. That was a NCAA Diving Zone qualifying score, as well as the seventh-highest score in UNLV history. Mykayla Fielding posted 286.85 points to place 10th overall, while Michelle Serra also scored on the 3-meter, finishing 15th with a score of 265.60.
UNLV did not place anyone in the scoring heats of the 500 free, with the top finish coming from Kelsey Wuoti, 4:56.57 to finish 20th. The 200 IM however saw the Rebels place two in the top seven, beginning with Lina Rathsack's fourth-place swim of 1:59.55 for a NCAA 'B' time standard. She originally posted a 1:59.21 in the morning preliminaries, which ranks as the second-fastest time on the UNLV record books. Jessica Wong meanwhile was seventh with a time of 2:02.70. She swam a 2:01.99 in the morning, seventh-best all-time at UNLV.
Fehervari turned in the next top-eight finish for UNLV, touching the wall in 23.18 to place eighth in the 50 free. She had recorded a 22.69 time in the morning, just .01 seconds off her personal best mark. Troup meanwhile turned in a 22.88, fourth-best on the UNLV charts and good enough for 10th place in the final event of the night.
The four-day meet continues on Friday before concluding on Saturday night.
2016 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Texas A&M Natatorium
College Station, Texas
Thursday, February 18
Second Day Results
Team Scoring
- Nevada, Reno - 284
- Boise State - 254.5
- San Diego State - 213
- UNLV - 161
- Wyoming - 152
- San Jose State - 126
- New Mexico - 99.5
- Air Force - 95
- Colorado State - 92
- Fresno State - 70
Top-Eight Finishes
200 Free Relay: 5th place - 1:30.95 (Julia Fehervari, Michelle Troup, Elena Gavrilova, Lina Rathsack)
3-meter Diving: 4th place - Alyssa Arnett (323.65)
200 IM: 4th place - Lina Rathsack (1:59.55*), 7th place - Jessica Wong (2:02.70)
50 Free: 8th place - Julia Fehervari (23.18)
^ - NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
* - NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
