LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Led by Vuk Celic's school and conference meet record in the 500 free, UNLV men's swimming and diving built upon its lead with three titles on the second day of the Western Athletic Championships hosted at UNLV's Jim Reitz Pool and NAU's Aquatics Complex. With their big night, the Rebels hold their spot atop the team standings with 333 points and defending champion Air Force is the next closest squad in second with 212 points.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
In the first individual event, Celic gave the Rebels the 500 free title for a second consecutive year after breaking the previous WAC Championship record held by .48 seconds and the Scarlet and Gray's program record by 2.69 seconds. Cal State Bakersfield's Mitchell Huxhold set the conference meet's former record in 2014 and UNLV alum Brad Gonzalez's had held the program's top 500 free record since 2018.
 
Last season's 500 free winner, sophomore Christopher Mykkanen took second and his Scarlet and Gray sophomore counterpart Panos Bolanos placed third to complete a 1-2-3 UNLV sweep to help stretch the Rebel dominance in that event. Not far from podium finishes, freshman Cooper Kiel and sophomore Cameron Castro landed in fourth and fifth, respectively, as UNLV pulled off a top-five sweep in the event as well.
 
The Rebel men's 200 free relay squad of freshman George Ratiu, junior Casey McEuen, senior Sean Gage and junior Reece Hemmens started off the night with a bang, as McEuen swam a 19.60 on the second leg to put the Rebels out in front before Gage and Hemmens held on the rest of the way for the WAC title. Following the lead of its mid-distance swimmers, this was the sixth WAC gold medal in the 200 free relay in the last eight seasons for UNLV, which last won the event in 2018.
 
Junior Reece Hemmens made a splash in a tight 50 free race to wrap up the night's swimming events, as he snatched the third first-place medal of the night for the Rebels with a late push for a narrow finish just .02 seconds in front of his teammate Ratiu and .03 seconds ahead of Grand Canyon's third-place finisher. Hemmens' win matches the dominance by UNLV in the WAC Championship 200 free relay, as it marked the sixth time a Rebel swimmer earned the 50 free victory in the last eight seasons and the first since former Rebel standout Kasey Foley's 2017 triumph.

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*Already having earned his NCAA 'B' qualifying mark in the 500 free, Celic surpassed his season best by over five seconds with a time of 4:16.75*. His time currently ranks 31st among the NCAA's top-times rankings for the season.
*In their respective second, third and fourth places in the 500 free, Mykkanen (4:18.94*), Bolanos (4:21.31*) and Kiel (4:22.58*) also stamped their names in program history. Mykkanen also topped the old program record and sits in second on the school's all-time record list, while Bolanos and Kiel took over the respective fifth and eighth spots on that chart.
*Sophomore Cameron Castro gave UNLV each of the top-five spots in the 500 free, as he logged a time of 4:23.60. His mark placed him just behind his teammates in all-time program history for the event as he took over 10th.
*Ratiu, McEuen, Gage and Hemmens combined for a time of 1:18.42 in their 200 free relay for UNLV to finish ahead of second-place finisher GCU (1:19.13) by .71 seconds. This marked the first WAC gold medal in either an individual or team event for each individual swimmer among the Rebel quartet.
*In the 50 free race, Hemmens (19.91*) and Ratiu (19.93*) each tacked on another pair of NCAA 'B' cuts in their respective first-place and second-place finishes. McEuen nearly gave the Rebels a second 1-2-3 sweep in the 50 free in the night's four races, as he placed fourth on a time of 19.97 to finish just one hundredth of second shy of an NCAA 'B' qualifying mark.
*On the opening day of the WAC's diving competition, senior Jesse Cawley piled on another Rebel podium finish with his bronze medal (299.90) in the 1-meter championship. In his conference meet debut, freshman Jamie Spilchak followed in seventh for the 1-meter event to cap off a pair of top-eight UNLV finishes on the day's springboard events.
*Senior Richard Szilagyi was the UNLV's top scorer in the 50 free B final, as he finished first in the consolation round and placed ninth overall with a time of 20.20. Just a few strokes behind Szilagyi for the Rebels, senior Bryan Chavez came in 10th with a time of 20.42.
*The Rebels were led by Gage's (1:48.14) fifth-place finish and junior Jack Binder's (1:48.92) seventh-place finish in the 200 IM during an evening in which they had at least two top-eight finishers in every event. With his time, Gage positioned himself in ninth place on UNLV's all-time program record chart.
*Rounding out UNLV's efforts in the 200 IM, junior Ivan Zhukov won the B final in that event after touching with a time of 1:48.19.

QUOTABLE: "I was very impressed tonight with how our team kept their foot on the pedal. It's challenging to have a prelims session full of personal bests, and then follow it up with even more time drops at the night's finals. But that definitely describes how our day wen, and it reveals a good level of racing maturity from the team right now. Obviously it's great to win three of the five events contested today, but the way our 500 Freestylers dominated was off the charts.  A huge shout-out to Coach Steve Wood and his mid-distance crew for getting it done tonight, as well as to Coach Pat and the sprinters for the huge relay win and a 1-2 punch in the 50."- Head coach Ben Loorz

NEXT FOR THE REBELS:  The Rebels will look to stretch their lead on the third day of the WAC Swimming Championships with the swimming prelims beginning at 11 am, followed by the finals at 6 pm Friday. The WAC Diving Championships hosted by Northern Arizona will continue Friday as well, with prelims at 10:30 am and finals at 6:30 pm once again.

2021 Western Athletic Championship Swimming Championships
Jim Reitz Pool at UNLV
Las Vegas, Nevada
& 2021 Western Athletic Championship Diving Championships
Aquatics Complex at Northern Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona
Thursday, February 25
Day 2 Results
 
Team Scoring
1. UNLV – 333
2. Air Force - 222
3. Grand Canyon – 199.5
4. Wyoming – 188.5
5. Cal Baptist – 170
6. Seattle U – 87
 
Top-Eight Finishes
200 Free Relay: 1st place - Ratiu, McEuen, Gage, Hemmens (1:18.42)
500 Free: 1st place – Vuk Celic (4:16.75*), 2nd place – Christopher Mykkanen (4:18.94*), 3rd place – Panos Bolanos (4:21.31*), 4th place – Cooper Kiel (4:22.58*), 5th place – Cameron Castro (4:23.60)
50 Free: 1st place – Reece Hemmens (19.91*), 2nd place – George Ratiu (19.93*), 4th place – Casey McEuen (19.97)
200 IM: 5th place – Sean Gage (1:48.14) 7th place – Jack Binder (1:48.92)
1-meter Board – 3rd place – Jesse Cawley (299.90), 7th place – Jamie Spilchak (256.50)
 
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score