LOS ANGELES (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's and women's swimming teams racked up a combined 16 top-10 individual finishes in their 2021-22 season debut Friday in the opening session of the USC Invitational at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
After one day of competition, UNLV's women sit in second place with 188 points behind No. 17 USC (284 points) in first, as well as ahead of UC San Diego (166 points) in third and TCU (116 points) in fourth. In the men's team scoring, the Rebels are in third with 164.5 points, putting them in front of fourth-place UC San Diego (147 points) and behind leaders No. 23 USC (252.5 points) in first place and TCU (185 points) in second.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
*Super senior Kate Afanasyeva opened her season in big fashion with a pair of top-10 finishes, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 100 back with an NCAA 'B' cut time and new personal best of 52.98*. The mark was over six-tenths of a second faster than her previous fastest time and within one-quarter of a second of the school record at second all-time in UNLV history.
*Opening the day's individual events in the 500 free, seniors
Gabby Lizzul and
Teneka Ash each cracked the top-5. Lizzul reached the wall in fourth with a new personal best of 4:54.47, while Ash came close behind her Rebel teammate in fifth (4:54.91).
*In the 50 free, senior
Kristina Schneider mirrored her teammates with a top-5 finish of her own, touching fifth with a time of 23.01 on the day. Afanasyeva (23.27) and sophomore
Malia Fernandez (23.33) also added top-10 placings in the event, with the former finishing seventh and the latter ninth among point scorers.
*Another Scarlet and Gray trio swam into the top-10 in the 200 IM, as sophomore
Ruby Howell (2:03.13) took sixth, Lizzul (2:04.77) placed ninth and senior
Kacey Kiuchi (2:04.77) finished 10th.
*Senior
Julia Filippova (4:57.47) concluded the top-10 individual finishes on the women's side in the 500 free with her ninth-place finish.
*In the 400 medley relay, UNLV's 'A' unit of Afanasyeva, sophomore
Calysta Bartlett, freshman
Cameron Mykkanen and Schneider placed second among point scorers with a time 3:40.51.
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*The Rebels also enjoyed success in the men's 100 back race that saw junior
Panos Bolanos match Afanasyeva with his own second-place finish on an NCAA 'B' cut mark of 47.48*.
*Junior Chris Mykkanen* reeled off another UNLV top-5 finish and NCAA 'B' cut in the 500 free, clocking a time of 4:21.94 to finish third. He was joined among the Rebels' top-10 finishers in the event by sophomore
Cooper Kiel in seventh place with a time of 4:28.72.
*Topping off the day's individual events, senior
Reece Hemmens sped his way to third place in the 50 free with a 20.04 and sophomore
George Ratiu (20.24) tied for seventh.
*Additionally, UNLV freshman
Dominik Bujak (1:48.79) added a sixth-place finish in the 200 IM in his collegiate debut.
*UNLV's 'B' squad in the 400 medley relay - consisting of seniors
Richard Szilagyi,
Jack Binder,
Michal Cukanow and
Bryan Chavez - was fourth in the point scoring in the event, coming away with a time of 3:16.33.
QUOTABLE: "We had a good opening session, with amazing weather and some fast competitors we went up against. Kate [Afanasyeva] meddled with the school record in the 100 back, and that was a huge new best time for her. We have some things to clean up in the relays, but overall it was a good start."
-Head Coach Ben Loorz
UP NEXT: The Rebels will continue the weekend at USC on Saturday with another pair of sessions, beginning at 9 a.m. PT and followed by the meet's concluding session at 12:30 p.m. PT.
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
