HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com)-  Freshman Tazman Abramowicz claimed the first ever Conference Diver of the Year award for UNLV. He also claimed the men's platform conference title with a score of 315.95 to highlight Saturday's action on the final day of the 2019 WAC Swimming & Diving Conference Championships, held at the CRWC Natatorium. The Rebels finished in fifth place with 493.5 points, while Grand Canyon led overall with 688.5 points.    

REBELS OF THE DAY: 
-Tazman Abramowicz claimed his second conference title, qualified for the 2019 NCAA Diving Zones, and brought home the 2019 WAC Diver of the Year Award for the first time in UNLV program history.
-Ivan Zukov claimed the 2019 WAC Freshman of the Meet award, the last time UNLV won this was in 1997 by Tomasz Piotrowski.
-Coach Landon Marzullo grabbed the 2019 WAC Diving Coach of the Year award.

THE RUNDOWN - MEN: 
*Freshman Wyatt Marsalek finished sixth in the 1650 free with a swim of 15:43.61. Senior Ethan Klein placed 12th with a time of 15:53.99.
*Freshman Hayden Cornellison touched the wall third in the 200 back with a 1:46.07, posting the fifth-fastest time in program history. Junior Hayden Hemmens followed in fourth with a 1:46.12, posting the sixth-fastest time in program history.
*Sophomore Bryan Chavez finished eighth in the 100 free with a 44.28. Sophomore Richard Szilagyi placed 12th with a 44.54.
*Freshman Ivan Zukov finished third in the 200 breast with a 1:58.42, posting the eighth-fastest time in program history and making a 2019 NCAA 'B' Provisional time. Freshman Sam Willstrop touched 10th with a 2:00.27.
*Freshman Michal Cukanow placed second in the 200 fly with a 1:46.58, posting the eighth-fastest time in program history 2019 NCAA 'B' Provisional time. Freshman Bert Phung finished 13th with a 1:49.81.
*Freshman Tazman Abramowicz grabbed his second conference title on platform with a score of 315.95. Sophomore Jesse Cawley finished in third with a score of 286.30
*Closing out the meet, the 400 free relay team of Richard Szilagyi, Bryan Chaves, Sean Gage, and Hayden Hemmens finished fourth with a time of 2:57.81.

QUOTABLE
"By far our best day and session, we had at least one person in Top 8 of every event today. The highlight was of course platform, and a huge Rebel congrats to Coach Landon for his first ever coach-of-the-year award. It is well deserved, and Taz and Jesse were amazing all weekend on the boards. We were happy to pick up some more NCAA "B" cuts today, enabling us to swim some post-season in a couple weeks. A huge thanks to the really supportive Rebel parent group as well here in Houston."
- HEAD COACH BEN LOORZ

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebel women will head to Federal Way, Washington, for the PAC-12 Last Chance Meet on March 3

2019 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium at University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Saturday, March 2
Final Day Results
Men's Team Scoring

1. Grand Canyon- 688.5
2. Cal Baptist- 618.5
3. Wyoming- 604
4. Air Force- 593
5. UNLV- 493.5
6. CSU Bakersfield- 330.5
7. Seattle U- 148

Top-Eight Finishes
1650 Free: 6th Place (15:53.99)- Wyatt Marsalek 
200 Back: 3rd Place (1:46.07)- Hayden Cornellison | 4th Place (1:46.12)- Hayden Hemmens
100 Free: 8th Place (44.28)- Bryan Chaves
200 Breast: 3rd Place (1:58.42*)- Ivan Zukov
200 Fly: 2nd Place (1:46.58*)- Michal Cukanow
Platform: 1st Place (315.95~)- Tazman Abramowicz | 3rd Place (286.30)- Jesse Cawley
400 Free Relay: 4th Place (2:57.81)- (Richard Szilagyi, Bryan Chaves, Sean Gage, Hayden Hemmens)

^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score