Feb. 21, 2018 HOUSTON, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) - A pair of top-five relay finishes carried UNLV to fourth place after the first day of action on Wednesday night at the 2018 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 93 points, trailing first day leader Wyoming (121), Air Force (103) and Grand Canyon (100).
THE RUNDOWN - MEN:
* UNLV's team of Richard Szilagyi, Francois Van Wynsberge, Dylan Tarazona and Or Sabatier opened up the meet with a swim of 1:27.66 to place fourth overall, 0.15 seconds out of third place in the 200 medley relay.
* Jesse Cawley finished third in the 3 meter by scoring a 313.20, followed by Robert Morgan who placed sixth with an overall score of 262.75.
*UNLV recorded its season best in the 800 free as Grant Norgan, Mark Theall, Richard Szilagyi and Forrest Beesley posted a time of 6:28.00 earning them second place, missing first by 0.12 seconds. That ranks the second fastest time in program history.
QUOTABLE-
"I was both encouraged and disappointed tonight. We swam fast, but were a hair's breadth from walking away with a silver in the 200 MR and a gold in the 800 FR... To fall short is unacceptable. I know our team has a big enough heart to close that gap, and we just have to do it tomorrow."
"A huge lead-off effort by the two freshman, Grant and Mark, in the 800 Free Relay got us going tonight for sure."
"A big congrats to Coach Landon and his divers, who continue to exceed expectations. That was a first All-Conference level performance for Rob, and to have a freshman be top three in his first Champioship event shows a lot of poise."
-HEAD COACH BEN LOORZ
2018 WAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium
Houston, Texas
Wednesday, February 21
First Day Results
Team Scoring
1. Wyoming - 121
2. Air Force - 103
3. Grand Canyon - 100
4. UNLV - 93
5. CSU Bakersfield - 65
6. Seattle - 52
Top-Eight Finishes
200 Medley Relay - 4th place - 1:27.66 (Richard Szilagyi, Francois Van Wynsberge, Dylan Tarazona, Or Sabatier)
3 Meter Diving- 3rd place - 313.20 (Jesse Cawley)
3 Meter Diving - 6th place - 262.75 (Robert Morgan)
800 Free Relay - 2nd place - 6:28:00 (Grant Norgan, Mark Theall, Richard Szilagyi, Forrest Beesley)
^ - NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
* - NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~ - NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score
