COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV swimming's 200 medley relay team set a new program record and notched a second-place finish Wednesday to kick off the 2022 Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships being held at Rec Center Natatorium on the campus of Texas A&M.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
The Rebels' 200 medley relay quartet of super senior Kate Afanasyeva, sophomores
Calysta Bartlett and
Sarah Koopmans, and senior
Kristina Schneider sped to a new program-best mark of 1:37.92 for the silver medal. Their time bested UNLV's previous fastest time in the event (1:38.11) - which was recorded at the 2013 MW Championships in San Antonio, Texas - by nearly two-tenths of a second.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
*Heading into the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay, the Scarlet and Gray side sat in second place behind San Diego State by over six-tenths of a second before a near comeback landed the squad less than three-tenths of a second shy of first place. On the final 50 yards of the race, Schneider blasted off a 21.90-second freestyle swim as the Rebels finished just .21 seconds behind the Aztecs' (1:31.71) winning performance.
*In the final event of the evening, UNLV's 'A' team of seniors
Teneka Ash,
Gabby Lizzul,
Julia Filippova and
Carissa Armijo combined for a sixth-place finish (7:22.75) in the 800 free relay.
QUOTABLE: "We've known all season that our medley relay group is something special. They have been doing great work in setting a new bar all season. It was exciting to see it come together tonight, and that's exactly the way you want to start off a Championship weekend." -Head coach
Ben Loorz
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebel women will continue their title defense quest on the second day of the MW Championships on Thursday with prelims scheduled for 9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT and finals set for 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT.
2022 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Rec Center Natatorium at Texas A&M
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, February 16
First Day Results
Team Scoring
1. UNR - 236
2. San Diego State - 228
3. Wyoming - 153
4. Fresno State - 144
5. Colorado State - 115
6. UNLV - 104
7. University of New Mexico - 103
8. Air Force - 99
9. San Jose State - 88
Podium Finishes
200 Medley Relay: 2nd place - 1:37.92 (Kate Afanasyeva,
Calysta Bartlett,
Sarah Koopmans,
Kristina Schneider)
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score
