HOUSTON (UNLVRebels.com) – Junior
Ruby Howell's silver medal in the 200 IM led the way for the UNLV women's swimming and diving team's nine top-10 finishes Thursday on the second day of the Mountain West Championships at CRWC Natatorium.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
Howell took home the Rebels' third silver medal of the conference meet in the 200 IM race, finishing with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:39.02. Her mark was the second fastest swim for the event in UNLV program history and within six-tenths of a second of the school record (1:58.47).
With the strong outing, the Scarlet & Gray moved up two spots into second place in the team standings with 436 points. The Rebels are only behind current leader San Diego State (663 points), while they sit ahead of UNR (432 points) in third, Wyoming (369 points) in fourth and Fresno State (329 points) in fifth atop the team leaderboard.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
*Following Howell in the 200 IM were juniors
Calysta Bartlett (2:00.95) in fourth and
Blanka Bokros (2:01.37) in fifth. The duo also moved up the Rebels' all-time record chart, as Bartlett climbed into seventh and Bokros into eighth with their finals times.*In the 500 free, freshman
Erika Carlson grabbed a fourth-place finish (4:52.18), while super senior
Teneka Ash (4:53.96) secured sixth place and freshman
Kayleigh Lovell finished eighth (5:00.53.)
*On the 3-meter springboard, junior
Vika Yanovska contributed another Scarlet & Gray top-8 finish, placing fifth with a score of 324.60. It was the fourth-highest 3-meter diving score ever posted by a Rebel.
*In the 400 medley relay, freshman
Averi Webb, sophomore
Pilar Cohen, Bartlett, and Bokros combined to clock the fifth-place time at 3:40.88 on the final touch.
*Winning the 50 free consolation final, sophomore
Pilar Cohen sped to a ninth-place overall finish with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 22.69. Consequently, the time pushed her into fourth all-time on the program record chart.
*Also piling onto the win column during the nightcap, freshman
Hannah Jones (4:54.06) and super senior
Gabby Lizzul (4:55.55) provided a 1-2 sweep in the 'C' final of the 500 free with respective 17th-place and 18th-place overall finishes.
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The conference competition continues with the third day on Friday. Prelims are set for 8:30 a.m. PT and finals are at 4 p.m. PT.
2023 Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
CRWC Natatorium at the University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Thursday, February 16
Second Day Results
Team Scoring
1. San Diego State - 663
2. UNLV - 436
3. UNR - 432
4. Wyoming - 369
5. Fresno State - 329
6. Air Force - 281
7. Colorado State - 275
8. San Jose State - 251
9. University of New Mexico - 136
Top-8 Finishes
200 IM: 2nd place - 1:39.02* (
Ruby Howell);
4th place - 2:00.95 (
Calysta Bartlett);
5th place - 2:01.37 (
Blanka Bokros)
500 Free: 4th place - 4:52.18 (
Erika Carlson);
6th place - 4:53.96 (
Teneka Ash);
8th place - 5:00.53 (
Kayleigh Lovell)
3-meter Diving: 5th place - 324.60~ (
Vika Yanovska)
400 Medley Relay - 5th place - 3:40.88 (Webb, Bartlett, Bokros, Cohen)
^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score
-UNLV-
