AUSTIN, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's and women's swimming teams had five swimmers record top-8 finishes as part of a combined 14 top-15 finishes on the third day of the Texas Invitational Friday at Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
- Starring for the Rebels in the 100 breast, junior Adnan Beji dropped his prelims time by one-half of a second in the 'A' final to place second with a season-best and NCAA 'B' cut 52.37.
- Another 'A' final qualifier, freshman Wikus Potgieter became the fourth Rebel to dip below the 47-second threshold in the 100 back as he finished fifth with a 46.96. He moved up to fourth all-time in program history in the event.
- Junior Mike Breitbart also made the 'A' final in the 400 IM, taking home eighth place with a season-best 3:52.12. His final time was nearly 1.2 seconds faster than his mark during prelims (3:53.35).
- Gliding to a 10th-place finish in the 100 fly - and second in the 'B' final - senior George Ratiu logged an NCAA 'B' cut of 46.82 seconds.
- Almost adding another top-15 finish in the 100 fly, senior Steven Butler (47.86) swam to a 16th-place outing in the 'B' final.
- Senior Cam Castro recorded a personal-best times twice on the day on the way to an 11th-place finish. He lowered his prelims time (1:36.27) in the finals (1:36.19) by eight-hundredths of a second.
- Competing in the 'B' final of the 100 back, senior McKay Mickelson sped to his own 15th-place finish (48.45) after logging personal bests twice on the day.
- In the final event, the Rebel 'A' squad of junior Bryson Huey, Ratiu, Butler and Castro finished fourth (1:18.11) in the 200 free relay within one-tenth of a second of the host Longhorns (1:18.01) in third place.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
- In the only event that saw two Scarlet & Gray swimmers compete in the 'A' final, senior Calysta Bartlett (1:00.81) and freshman Viola Teglassy (1:02.44) took sixth and eighth in the 100 breast, respectively. Bartlett's finish came on an NCAA 'B' cut, while Teglassy moved onto the UNLV record chart with the program's all-time seventh fastest mark.
- Leading the way for two Rebels in the 100 fly 'B' final, senior Blanka Bokros provided an 11th-place finish with an NCAA 'B' cut of 53.07 seconds as she made her return to the pool for the Rebels. Junior Cameron Mykkannen (54.56) touched a few short moments later in 15th place.
- Senior Ruby Howell clocked a personal-best mark of 4:20.62 in the 400 IM on the way to a 14th-place finish as a 'B' final qualifier. She improved her 10th fastest time in program history by one-tenth of a second.
- In the 100 back 'B' final, freshman Dominika Trentkiewicz swam the sixth quickest time in program history at 54.26 seconds en route to an 11th-place finish. She also shaved over a second off her time from the morning prelim session.
- Coming up with another personal record, junior Pilar Cohen logged a time of 1:51.90 for a 1.52-second time improvement and a 25th-place finish.
- The Rebel women's squad's night ended with 10th-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:32.67) by the 'A' team of Bartlett, Teglassy, Bokros and Cohen.
UP NEXT: The meet wraps up Saturday with prelims at 8 a.m. PT and finals at 6 p.m. PT. Fans can follow the action via the live results link here and on the Meet Mobile app.
