LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's swimming and diving team won 12 of 16 events to capture its first dual win over Pac-12 foe Utah since 2012 by a 174.5-123.5 margin in Saturday's dual at Jim Reitz Pool. The Rebels' victory also ended the Utes' streak of seven straight wins in the series matchup.
REBELS OF THE MEET:
*Junior
Panos Bolanos completed his successful weekend for UNLV, finishing as the only triple event winner on the day with first-place finishes in the 100 back (48.85), 200 back (1:46.35), and 200 IM with a personal-best time of 1:50.13.
*The Rebels' freshman
Adnan Beji capped his four-win weekend by sweeping the 100 breast (54.72) and 200 breast (2:01.13) races for the second straight day. He also contributed to the Scarlet and Gray 'A' team's 200 medley relay victory.
*Another multiple event winner in the meet, senior
Reece Hemmens claimed individual victories in the 50 free (20.40) and 100 free (45.23) while also anchoring the UNLV 'A' squads' wins in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay.
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*The dominant performance began with UNLV's 'A' quartet - consisting of Bolanos, Beji, senior
Casey McEuen and Hemmens - taking first in the 200 medley relay with a combined time of 1:28.10.
*Completing a 1-2 finish for the Scarlet and Gray in the 200 medley relay, the squad's 'B' unit of seniors
Richard Szilagyi,
Jack Binder and
Bryan Chavez, and sophomore
George Ratiu came in second (1:28.94).
*On the distance side, juniors Cam Castro and Chris Mykkanen got things going for the Rebels with a 1-2 finish in the 1000 free. Castro's first-place finish came on a time of 9:21.07, while Mykkanen touched second with a time of 9:22.35.
*After Hemmens, Bolanos and Beji grabbed their second event wins, Mykkanen led a 1-2-3 UNLV sweep of the 500 free. Mykannen's first-place finish (4:33.72) was coupled with Castro's (4:36.48) and freshman
Andrew Navarro's (4:36.76) respective second-place and third-place finishes.
*Navarro also provided a Scarlet and Gray win in the 200 fly, finishing with a season-best time of 1:50.48
*The Rebels completed their relay sweep to wrap up the day, as their 'A' team of Ratiu, Mykkanen, junior
Steven Butler and Hemmens (1:20.95) battled to edge the Utes' 'A' squad (1:21:07) in the 200 free relay by 0.12 seconds.
QUOTABLE: "Our men came out and made a statement with a strong 1-2 blow in the opening relay. That really set the tone for the rest of the meet. Even when the final outcome seemed to be already decided, our guys did a great job of keeping the pedal down, focusing throughout and using each race as an opportunity to improve. It was just a great win and performance from start to finish by them."
-UNLV Head Coach Ben Loorz
NEXT UP: UNLV's swimmers will now prepare for another big meet over the next couple of weeks as they will head to Knoxville, Tenn. to compete in the Tennessee Invitational set for Nov. 18-20. Meanwhile, the Rebel divers will compete in Los Angeles next weekend at USC's Trojan Diving Invitational being held on Nov. 12-14.
