PHARR, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's swimming and diving team set two new school records and won two relay gold medals during Wednesday's opening events of the WAC Championships at the City of Pharr Natatorium. In support of the UNLV football program, which suffered the tragic passing of student-athlete Ryan Keeler on Monday, the Rebels honored him by competing with his number 47 painted on their chests and arms.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY: 
UNLV's 200 medley relay squad, featuring senior Panos Bolanos (21.68), sophomore Adnan Beji (23.46), junior George Ratiu (20.84) and super senior Reece Hemmens (18.87), claimed the WAC title with a new school record of 1:24.85. The quartet surpassed their own previous program-best time from a season ago by nearly one-quarter of a second, earning them the Scarlet & Gray's first title in the event in two years.

Additionally, UNLV's 800 free relay squad of freshman Kris Matuszewski (1:34.82), Zsolt Szodi (1:37.26), Bolanos (1:34.98) and Hemmens (1:35.20) came away with the program's fourth consecutive title in the event. The Rebels chased down Air Force to take the lead on Hemmens' anchor leg as they moved into fourth on UNLV's all-time list with a time of 6:22.26.

Another Scarlet & Gray record that fell was on the 1-meter springboard courtesy sophomore Dima Tereshchenko's score of 325.45 during prelims. After coming within two-hundredths of a point of the record earlier this year, he bested former Rebel Tazman Abramowicz's old top mark (321.25) set during the 2018-19 season.

With their efforts, the Rebels are in first with 102 points with a seven-point lead over Air Force (95 points) in second place. The other squads staying close to the top of the team standings with at least 90 points are Grand Canyon in third (92 points) and California Baptist (91 points) in fourth place.

THE RUNDOWN - MEN:
*Adding another top-8 effort, Tereshchenko finished with a score of 279.10 in the 1-meter finals to place sixth.

QUOTABLE: "We were proud to represent UNLV tonight. Two school records is a great way to start, but we have a lot of racing left to do. A big shout-out to Coach Anne (Schwemmer), this is her first program record since joining the Rebel staff as our head diving coach and it's a very important milestone. I also want to say that our hearts are with our Rebel family in the football program this week and we hope our guys' display of solidarity gives them a feeling of support during this difficult time." - UNLV Head Coach Ben Loorz

UP NEXT: The Rebel men will look to carry their momentum into the second day of the WAC Championships on Thursday with prelims scheduled for 8:30 a.m PT and finals set for 4 p.m. PT.

2023 Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championships
The City of Pharr Natatorium
Pharr, Texas
Wednesday, February 22
First Day Results

Team Scoring
1. UNLV - 102
2. Air Force - 95
3. Grand Canyon - 92
4. California Baptist - 91
5. Wyoming - 69
6. Seattle - 54


Top-8 Finishes
200 Medley Relay: 1st Place - 1:24.85 (Reece Hemmens, Danny Beji, George Ratiu, Panos Bolanos)
800 Free Relay: 1st Place - 6:22.26 (Reece Hemmens, Kris Matuszewski, Zsolt Szodi, Panos Bolanos)
1-meter Springboard: 6th place - 279.10 (Dima Tereshchenko); Prelims - 325.45~

^-NCAA 'A' Automatic Time
*-NCAA 'B' Provisional Time
~-NCAA Diving Zone Qualifying Score