HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV sits third overall after setting both a conference and school record in the 800 free relay during the first day of the 2020 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships. This year's contest is being held at CRWC Natatorium in the Lone Star State. Through three events, the Rebel men have a total of 85 points, while Air Force sits first with a total of 121.
The Rebels delivered a phenomenal WAC-record-setting relay performance on night one of the Championships. After flirting with the gold medal in the 800 Freestyle Relay in both 2018 and 2019, the team of Maric, Chavez, Mykkanen, and Hemmens left no doubt tonight. They chopped an astounding four full seconds off both the UNLV and WAC Conference marks. Their time of 6:20.04 is an NCAA "B" cut, and currently sits at #18 in the NCAA rankings.
The 200 Medley Relay also delivered with anchor Richard Szilagyi outpacing Cal Baptist and Wyoming in the last 25 yards to nab the silver.
Not to be overlooked, freshman Panos Bolanos swam an official time trial in the 200 Backstroke today. The time of 1:41.08 is under the cut for NCAA qualification last year, and currently sits at #15 in the NCAA. It lowers Bolanos's own UNLV record in the event from November.
THE RUNDOWN - MEN:
*Junior Jesse Cawley tied for eighth on 3 meter with a score of 282.90.
*The 800 free relay team of Ogi Maric, Bryan Chavez, Chris Mykkanen, and Hayden Hemmens touched the wall first with a new conference and school record time of 6:20.04, 6.74 seconds faster than second place.
*Freshman Panos Bolanos set a new school record during his 200 back time trial with a swim of 1:41.08.
QUOTABLE
"Overall, there were some outstanding efforts tonight. We've been trying to win that 800 free relay and lower the record for four years now, and today they just walked away from it. All the men's teams look ready to go though, and Air Force in particular was very very sharp. It will be very important to stay focused on one swim at a time, and that's our plan tomorrow."
- HEAD COACH BEN LOORZ
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebel men will begin preliminaries for day two at 10:30am (CT) Thursday.
2020 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium at University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Wednesday, February 26
First Day Results
Men's Team Scoring
1. Air Force- 121
2. Grand Canyon- 91
3. UNLV- 85
4. Cal Baptist- 83
5. CSU Bakersfield- 78
6. Wyoming- 77
7. Seattle U- 48
Top-Eight Finishes
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score
