HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's swimming and diving team successfully completed its championship defense to earn the WAC team title for the second straight season Saturday at CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston. This marks the first championship repeat for the Rebels since sweeping the trophies from 2014-15 while it is the program's fourth title hoisted as a league affiliate.

The Rebels' winning performance came with a final tally of 845.50 points to finish ahead of second-place finisher Air Force (630.5 points) by a wide margin of 215 points. Their score - which follows their WAC-record 907 points from last year's competition - was the third highest in school history in any conference championship appearance.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:

In the final event, UNLV's 400 free relay quartet - comprising sophomore George Ratiu in the lead-off along with seniors Bryan Chavez, Richard Szilagyi and Reece Hemmens - automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with a new WAC & program record speed of 2:50.70 to take the gold medal. This shattered the previous WAC record which was previously set by the Rebels' All-American relay squad (Tom Paco-Pedroni, Dillon Virva, Or Sabatier, Henrique Machado) in 2015 at the NCAA Championships held at University of Iowa's CRWC Natatorium.

After going undefeated in the regular season in the 200 back, junior Panos Bolanos (1:41.60*) became just the second Rebel to win three consecutive titles in the event. The standout backstroke specialist is the first Scarlet and Gray swimmer to three-peat in the event since Adam Martinson in 2006.

Meanwhile, junior Cam Castro (15:13.60*) grabbed his first career WAC gold medal by keeping the 1650 free in the Rebel family for the second straight season. His finish followed up UNLV's 2021 NCAA qualifier Vuk Celic's (14:50.34) conference title in the event last season.

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*Castro's 1650 free win led a Rebel 1-2-3 sweep, which featured junior Chris Mykkanen's (15:16.86*) and freshman Andrew Navarro's (15:20.34*) silver-medal and bronze-medal finishes, respectively. With his time, Navarro moved into ninth all-time at UNLV.
*Reaching the podium alongside Bolanos in the 200 back, sophomore McKay Mickelson (1:45.64) contributed a silver-medal finish with the eighth best time in program history. Adding on a fifth-place finish for the Scarlet and Gray, freshman Dominik Bujak finished with a time of 1:46.74.
*In a week that saw Ratiu swim just beneath school records, the second-year sprinter struck once again in the 100 free with the second fastest time (43.06) in school history for the bronze medal. Senior Richard Szilagyi (43.62*), too, made his way into the Rebels' record book with the program's ninth fastest mark to place fifth while Reece Hemmens (44.30) in eighth place rounded out the squad's scoring in the final.
*Chavez (43.62*) and junior Steven Butler (43.93) provided additional scoring in the 100 free as the former finished 10th and the latter reached the wall in 11th place.
*Earning another pair of medals in the 200 breast, freshman Andrew Navarro (1:56.43*) swam his way to silver and senior Ivan Zhukau (1:56.88*) came away with the bronze. Not only was Zhukau's time an NCAA 'B' cut, it moved him into seventh all-time at UNLV.
*Seniors Jack Binder (1:57.14*) in fourth place and Sam Willstrop (1:58.92) in fifth place concluded their week in the 200 breast. With his NCAA 'B' cut time, Binder etched his name onto the Rebels' all-time record list by taking over the ninth spot.
*Topping off the meet's individual events for the Rebels, Navarro notched a third top-8 finish of the day as he capped off the scoring in the final with a time of 1:49.37. Also tallying points in the event, Mickelson (1:47.40) placed ninth with his consolation final victory and senior Michal Cukanow (1:49.79) touched four spots later in 13th place.

QUOTABLE: "Repeating [as champion] is always a monkey on your back. I'm proud of this team for swimming confidently and, yet, being humble enough to compete aggressively every single session. The WAC as a whole was significantly faster this year, and that's exciting for the future. Our 400 free relay's automatic NCAA qualifier and record tonight was a rewarding way to close this out. Our relays have been getting sharper all week, and we knew after seeing the speed of yesterday's disqualified medley relay that today could be really good. It was a unique team effort and the similarities in the splits really points to that since there was no specific superstar carrying the relay. We are humbled to be at the top again this year. It's a real honor and these guys really worked hard for this. " -Head Coach Ben Loorz

UP NEXT: The Rebels will now look ahead to the National Invitational Championships being held March 9-12 in Elkhart, Indiana. Additionally, they will set their sights on the 2022 NCAA Championships hosted by Georgia Tech March 23-26 in Atlanta.

2022 Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium at the University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Saturday, February 26
Final Results
 
Team Scoring
1. UNLV - 845.5
2. Air Force - 630.5
3. Wyoming - 588.33
4. California Baptist - 555.33
5. Grand Canyon - 540.33
6. Seattle - 126

Top-8 Finishes
1650 Free: 1st place - 15:13.60* (Cam Castro); 2nd place - 15:16.86* (Chris Mykkanen); 3rd place - 15:20.34* (Andrew Navarro)
200 Back: 1st place - 1:41.60* (Panos Bolanos); 2nd place - 1:45.64 (McKay Mickelson); 5th place - 1:46.74 (Dominik Bujak)
100 Free: 3rd place - 43.06* (George Ratiu); 5th place - 43.62* (Richard Szilagyi); 8th place - 44.30 (Reece Hemmens)
200 Breast: 2nd place - 1:56.43* (Adnan Beji); 3rd place - 1:56.88* (Ivan Zhukau); 5th place - 1:58.92 (Sam Willstrop)
200 Fly: 8th place - 1:49.37 (Andrew Navarro)
400 Free Relay: 1st place - 2:50.70^ (George Ratiu, Bryan Chavez, Richard Szilagyi, Reece Hemmens)
 
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score