Feb. 24, 2016 HOUSTON, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) -
A runner-up finish by diver Lucas James was easily the highlight of the day for UNLV on Wednesday night after the first day of action at the 2016 WAC Men's Swimming and Diving championships, held this year at the University of Houston's CRWC Natatorium. The Rebels ended the first day with 77 points for fourth place, trailing first day leader Air Force (116), Grand Canyon (114) and Wyoming (87).
The night started off with the 200 medley relay, where Pasha Semochkin, Boris Kuliznknikov, Dillon Virva and Kasey Koley teamed up to post a third-place time of 1:26.22. The next event was the 3-meter event, and senior Lucas James was bidding to become the first Rebel to win a conference diving title since 1987. He came up just short, but still took home runner-up honors with a score of 345.00, behind champion Nathanael Zillweger of Air Force with 360.45 points. James still scored 17 points in the event for UNLV.
The final event of the night was the 800 free relay. Samuel Lameynardie, Forrest Beesley, Caio Dini and Brenton Sayers would give the Rebels a fifth-place finish with a time of 6:36.06.
"Although today was a it rough we still had some very positive performances leading into the rest of the meet," said UNLV interim head coach Bobby Folan. "Our medley relay team was solid, with Dillon and Kasey posting the top slits in the conference for the fly and free, respectively. Luke meanwhile was fantastic for us tonight, with his highest finish ever in the conference championships."
"I'm very proud of his performance and composure while competing the most difficult 3m list he's done yet," said UNLV diving coach Derek Starks of James. "He was consistent in both prelims and finals and he stepped up from one event to the next exactly as he needed to for a strong finish."
The four day meet continues on Thursday and Friday before concluding on Saturday night.
2016 WAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium
Houston, Texas
Wednesday, February 24
Fourth Day Results
Team Scoring
- Air Force - 116
- Grand Canyon - 114
- Wyoming - 87
- UNLV - 77
- CSU Bakersfield - 76
- North Dakota - 63
- Seattle - 50
Top-Eight Finishes
3-meter Diving - 2nd place - Lucas James (345.00)
200 Medley Relay - 3rd place - 1:26.22 (Pasha Semochkin, Boris Kulizhnikov, Dillon Virva, Kasey Foley)
800 Free Relay - 5th place - 6:36:06 (Samuel Lameynardie, Forrest Beesley, Caio Dini, Brenton Sayers)
