KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's and women's swimming teams picked up two event wins to go along with 10 top-10 finishes and 10 NCAA 'B' qualifying times on Saturday's final day of the Tennessee Invitational at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

The Rebel men's squad, which checked in at No. 23 in the recent national top-25 poll, competed against swimmers from the host No.13 Volunteers, No. 7 Virginia, No. 24 Alabama, South Carolina and Carson-Newman. On the women's side, UNLV squared off against top-ranked Virginia, 7th-ranked host Tennessee, No. 16 Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and Carson-Newman.

WEEKEND SUMMARY:

*With their strong finish, UNLV's men's and women's squads checked out of their stay in the Volunteer State with a combined 27 top-10 finishes and 23 NCAA qualifying marks, as well as three school records.

REBELS OF THE MEET:

Men
*Junior Panos Bolanos won the 200 back with an NCAA B cut of 1:41.18* to remain unbeaten in five meets this year. The Scarlet and Gray backstroke specialist also placed second in the 100 back (46.85), eighth in the 200 IM (1:47.35) and swam the backstroke leg of UNLV's 200 medley relay (1:25.31) and 400 medley teams' (3:08.46) new school records at the meet.
*Closing out his big outing for the Rebels, senior Sam Willstrop added a 10th-place finish (1.56.35) in the 200 breast with his second NCAA 'B' cut of the weekend. He also set program records in his 100 breast (52.74*) fifth-place finish and with the Scarlet and Gray's 200 medley relay squad.
*Claiming the other individual win of the weekend, junior Cam Castro placed first in the 1650 free with his NCAA 'B' cut of 15.04.59. It was the fourth-best mark in the distance race in program history.

Women
*In a weekend of personal bests, senior Gabby Lizzul achieved a 'B' qualifying mark (1:58.24*) in the 200 fly to finish second in the 'B' final and 10th overall. The Scarlet and Gray standout also broke through with the fifth best time in program history and a 13th-place finish in the 400 IM at the three-day meet.
*In the breaststroke races, sophomore Calysta Bartlett put together a pair of 'B' cut times and top-15 finishes in the 100 breast (1:01.21*) and 200 breast (2:12.83*). She also moved into third and fourth all-time at UNLV in those events, respectively.
*Super senior Kate Afanasyeva tallied the lone fifth-place finish for UNLV's women's squad over the weekend in the 100 back (53.38*).

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*Freshman Andrew Navarro enjoyed a breakout day as he touched fifth in the 1650 free and seventh in the 200 fly. Not only did he eclipse the 'B' qualifying threshold, Navarro also took over eighth in the 200 fly and 10th in the 1650 free on UNLV's all-time record chart.
*Adding to the Rebel newcomers' success, freshman Adnan Beji won the 'B' final of the 200 breast on a 'B' qualifying time (1:55.71) as part of a 1-2 Rebel finish with Willstrop trailing close behind. His time threatened the school record, coming up just one-hundredth of a second short to give him the second-fastest swim in program history.
*Sophomore George Ratiu (43.10) matched Beji with his own heat victory in the 100 free 'B' final behind a 'B' cut and the all-time, third-fastest swim by a Rebel.
*The Rebels' 400 free relay 'A' team (2:52.41) - which featured Ratiu, senior Richard Szilagyi, junior Steven Butler and senior Reece Hemmens - rode the wave of their squad's relay success from the past two days en route to a fourth-place finish. Additionally, the quartet enjoyed movement among the UNLV all-time record book with the third-best mark in that event.
*Freshman Dominik Bujak had the last men's top-10 finish, as he came in second in the 200 fly 'B' final (1:47.95) to take 10th.

THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
*In her stellar 200 fly performance, Lizzul bested her current second-fastest time on the UNLV record list by 1.42 seconds.
*Bartlett's effort in the 200 breast gave her 12th place overall and fourth in the 'B' final.
*Senior Kristina Schneider chipped in a season-best mark of 50.03 in the 100 free finals. It was her second season-best time on the weekend, which also included a sub-23 second swim in her 50 free 'D' final win.

QUOTABLE: "This was a perfect opportunity for us to see how we stack up against the best teams in the country, which we haven't had since 2019. We swam with a lot of courage this weekend, and threw down a lot of conference-leading performances. It says a lot about our team character that our swimmers were able to get best times, NCAA 'B' cuts and school records in this type of high-pressure environment." - Head Coach Ben Loorz

NEXT UP: The Rebels will now come home to Vegas to prepare for their annual UNLV Invitational being held at Jim Reitz Pool Friday, December 17 through Sunday, December 19.

*- denotes NCAA 'B' qualifying time