UNLV Photo Services

Swimming & Diving 1/8/2021 10:28:00 PM

Nail-Biting Finishes Cap Rebel Wins in the UNLV Invitational

UNLV sweeps the 200 free relay races to conclude UNLV Invitational

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving teams close victories in the 200 free relays capped off a number of tight wins Saturday to finish with the final total point advantages against short-handed Arizona in the UNLV Invitational at the Jim Reitz Pool.

UNLV's women's team finished with a 1,348-712 advantage over the Wildcats' women's squad, which only competed in the meet with 11 swimmers. In the men's standings, the Rebels ended the two-day invite with the 1,1195-811 edge over a limited Arizona men's side with only 16 swimmers.

THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:

*In the first individual final of the day, junior Teneka Ash won the 1650 free with a top Mountain West time of 17:00.34 in a race only contested by the Rebel women's squad. Junior Filio Raftopoulou (17:17.20), sophomore Diana Neagu (17:25.93) and junior Camila Quineche (17:33.34) rounded out the exclusive Scarlet and Gray event in second, third and fourth, respectively.
*Junior Kristina Schneider tacked on another UNLV first-place finish in the 200 free, finishing with a time of 1:49.96. Senior Lauren Smith followed Schneider among the race leaders for the Scarlet and Gray with a third-place finish (1:50.80).
*Freshman Ruby Howell recorded three total wins for the two-day meet, as she notched her second individual win for the Rebel women in the 400 IM with a MW season-best time (4:21.30) and her third victory in the 200 breast (2:15.43) on the day.
*UNLV was led in the 100 fly by senior Kate Afanasyeva's third-place finish with a time of 55.26.
*Continuing her momentum from her top-3 finishes in the competition's opening day, freshman Calysta Bartlett capped off her strong meet for UNLV with a third-place finish (2:20.31) in the 200 breast.
*Junior Kacey Kiuchi (1:58.32) added another UNLV win in an exciting 200 back race that went down to the wire, touching just ahead of Arizona's Skylar Dikeman by a slim .32 second margin.
*Another tight finish on the day came in the 100 free, as junior Kristina Schneider (50.22) landed in second place within .03 seconds of the top spot and freshman Malia Fernandez (50.85) followed right behind in third.
*The nail-biting finishes continued into the final event in the 200 free relay, as the UNLV 'A' squad (1:31.80) of Schneider, senior Eva Kim, Afanasyeva and senior Caitlyn Schreiber edged the Arizona 'A' team (1:31.95) by .15 seconds for the victory.

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:

*Vuk Celic (15:02.85) reeled off a decisive win for the Rebel men in the 1650 free with an NCAA 'B' cut and the NCAA's 13th fastest time this season in UNLV's sweep of the event. Sophomores Christopher Mykkanen (15:26.60) and Cameron Castro (15:33.33) placed second and third, respectively, to round the top spots in the race for the Scarlet and Gray.
*Junior Ivan Zhukov put forth a strong battle with Arizona's Jake Hand in the 400 IM, leading the way for the Rebel men in the event with a second-place finish and a WAC season-best mark (3:56.96).
*The Rebel men gave UNLV a sweep of each of the meet's men's breast races, as Zhukov (1:58.15) took first with an NCAA 'B' cut, junior Sam Willstrop (2:00.01) finished second and junior Jack Binder (2:01.22) placed third in the 200 breast.
*In the 200 free, Celic also posted a third-place finish with a time of 1:38.27 to lead all UNLV swimmers for that event.
*Junior Casey McEuen recorded a victory in the 100 fly event with the only sub-48 second time in the finals, logging a time of 47.76 to move him into a tie for the WAC's top mark on the year.
*In the 200 back, UNLV came away as the frontrunner once again with sophomore Panos Bolanos' (1:48.30) and freshman McKay Mickelson's (1:49.04) respective first-place and second-place finishes.
*A first-place finish by senior Richard Szilagyi (44.60) in the 100 free and a two-way tie for second place by freshman Reece Hemmens (45.07) and senior Bryan Chavez (45.07) concluded the meet's individual events for the Rebel men.
*The final 200 free relay race also saw the Rebel men's 'A' squad (1:19.62), consisting of Szilagyi, McEuen, junior Sean Gage and Hemmens, earn a narrow win over the Arizona 'A' unit (1:20.05) by less than .50 seconds to close out the meet. Their time marked the 16th best in the nation on the season.

QUOTABLE: "We really appreciate Arizona making the trip to race against us this weekend. We had some fantastic head-to-head matchups today, and our relays stepped up big time there to end the meet on a high note with their times." -Head coach Ben Loorz

-UNLV-

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jack Binder: Breast; 6' 3"; Sophomore

Sean Gage: Breast; 6' 1"; Junior

Eva Kim: Back; 5' 8"; Junior

Kacey Kiuchi: Back; 5' 7"; Sophomore

Casey McEuen: Free; 5' 11"; Sophomore

Camila Quineche: Fly/IM; 5' 5"; Sophomore

Filio Raftopoulou: Free; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Caitlyn Schreiber: Free; 5' 4"; Junior

Lauren Smith: Free; 5' 4"; Junior

Sam Willstrop: Breast; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Teneka Ash: Fly/Free; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Cameron Castro: Free/IM; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jack Binder
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: Breast

Sean Gage
: 6' 1"; Junior
: Breast

Eva Kim
: 5' 8"; Junior
: Back

Kacey Kiuchi
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: Back

Casey McEuen
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: Free

Camila Quineche
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: Fly/IM

Filio Raftopoulou
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: Free

Caitlyn Schreiber
: 5' 4"; Junior
: Free

Lauren Smith
: 5' 4"; Junior
: Free

Sam Willstrop
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: Breast

Teneka Ash
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: Fly/Free

Cameron Castro
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: Free/IM