Hayden Cornellison
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Swimming & Diving

Rebels Close Out Day One Of TYR Invitational

Freshman Ognjen Maric earned the Rebels' first NCAA B cut of the year with a 47.84 backstroke.

EVANSTON, Ill. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men and women's swim teams completed day one of the Northwestern University's TYR Invitational, which is being contested at the Norris Aquatics Center, Friday. The Rebels are competing against Northwestern, Toledo, Saint Louis and Simon Fraser. The three-day Invitational runs through Nov. 24.

The relays started off with an exciting win over all comers (including Big 10 host Northwestern) in the men's 200-yd. Freestyle Relay.  Team captain Sean Gage was the only swimmer in the field to dip below that 20-second barrier, dropping his 19.99 in on the 2nd leg of the relay.

The first individual event was highlighted by 2019 Conference runners-up Carissa Armijo and Hayden Hemmens.  Carissa was third in the women's event with a 4:51.72, her best performance of the season so far.  Hayden led wire-to-wire with a huge 8-second drop to win with a 4:23.52.  Notably, freshman teammate Chris Mykkanen was in a tight bunch racing for 3rd, and he dropped his season mark by a full 5 seconds.  Meanwhile, back on the women's side, sprinter Julia Filippova showed her versatility with a lifetime best prelim swim of 4:53.17, currently one of the top times in the MW.

The 200-yd. I.M. standout swim came in the men's B Final, where historic backstroke specialist Hayden Cornellison figured out his breaststroke technique and commanded the field with a 1:48.95.  His time was the 4th-fastest overall on the evening, and is a Top-3 time in the WAC.

The sprinters really highlighted the evening, led off by junior captain Caitlyn Schreiber, swimming in front of her home-town Chicago crowd.  Her 23.06 was good for 4th place, and was only hundredths off her lifetime mark.  The men showed some much needed depth in the sprint event with a clean sweep of the event.  Rebel graduate and volunteer assistant coach Forrest Beesley took the win, swimming unattached, with a 20.25.  Ogi Maric and Richard Szilagyi were ahead at the halfway mark before being run down by Beesley, but held on for 2nd and 3rd respectively. Freshman Chris Mykkanen doubled back to win the B Final with a 20.79, and junior Bryan Chavez won the C Final with a 20.90.  Overall, the Rebel men had 6 guys dip under 21.00 today.

The 400-yd. Medley Relay closed out the evening, and the Rebel men took both the B heat and the A heat down to the wire.  In the end, Northwestern nipped both races (with the Rebel A relay getting disqualified on a relay exchange), but the DQued relay would have topped the WAC Conference standings by a wide margin.  Freshman Ognjen Maric led off the A relay in a leadoff split that will stand, earning the Rebels' first NCAA B cut of the year with a 47.84 backstroke.

THE RUNDOWN - WOMEN: 
*Kicking off the first swimming event, Kate Afanasyeva, Julia Filippova, Caitlyn Schreiber, and Carissa Armijo finished third with a swim of 1:32.96.
*Sophomore Carissa Armijo took third in the 500 free with a time of 4:51.72.
*Junior Caitlyn Schreiber touched fourth in the 50 free, swimming a 23.06.
*Closing out the meet, Afansyeva, Armijo, Tara Wise, and Filippova took fifth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:47.39.

THE RUNDOWN - MEN:
*The 200 Medley Relay team of Ogi Maric, Sean Gage, Michal Cukanow, and Richard Szilagyi touched first with a time of 1:21.27.
*Senior Hayden Hemmens took first in the 500 free with a swim of 4:23.52, freshman Christopher Mykkanen took fifth with a time of 4:26.88.
*Sophomore Hayden Cornellison took ninth in the 200 IM (1:48.95).
*Freshman Ogi Maric finished second in the 50 free (20.39), junior Richard Szilagyi finished third (20.44), junior Sean Gage took fifth (20.71), and sophomore Michal Cukanow finished seventh (21.09).
*The 400 medley relay team of Cornellison, Ivan Zukov, Bryan Chavez, and Hemmens took third with a time of 3:17.40, closing out day one. 

QUOTABLE-
"This was a nice finals session.  We were a little chunky this morning, probably due to travel and time zone change yesterday, but the team really came around tonight.  There were impressive wins from Hayden in the 500 and all our 50 guys, and a shout out to Ogi Maric for snagging our first NCAA B cut of the season leading off the medley relay."
- HEAD COACH BEN LOORZ

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebels prepare for day two of the invitational with prelims beginning at 9 am (CST).
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Players Mentioned

Forrest Beesley

Forrest Beesley

Sprint Free
6' 2"
Senior
2L
Carissa Armijo

Carissa Armijo

Fly
5' 3"
Sophomore
Hayden Cornellison

Hayden Cornellison

Back
6' 1"
Sophomore
Michal Cukanow

Michal Cukanow

Fly
6' 2"
Sophomore
Julia Filippova

Julia Filippova

Free
5' 9"
Sophomore
Sean Gage

Sean Gage

Breast
6' 1"
Junior
Hayden Hemmens

Hayden Hemmens

Free
6' 0"
Senior
Caitlyn Schreiber

Caitlyn Schreiber

Free
5' 4"
Junior
Tara Wise

Tara Wise

Fly
5' 3"
Junior
Richard Szilagyi

Richard Szilagyi

Free
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Forrest Beesley

Forrest Beesley

6' 2"
Senior
2L
Sprint Free
Carissa Armijo

Carissa Armijo

5' 3"
Sophomore
Fly
Hayden Cornellison

Hayden Cornellison

6' 1"
Sophomore
Back
Michal Cukanow

Michal Cukanow

6' 2"
Sophomore
Fly
Julia Filippova

Julia Filippova

5' 9"
Sophomore
Free
Sean Gage

Sean Gage

6' 1"
Junior
Breast
Hayden Hemmens

Hayden Hemmens

6' 0"
Senior
Free
Caitlyn Schreiber

Caitlyn Schreiber

5' 4"
Junior
Free
Tara Wise

Tara Wise

5' 3"
Junior
Fly
Richard Szilagyi

Richard Szilagyi

6' 0"
Junior
Free