LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving dominated the opening session of their dual meet vs. Simon Fraser with wins in 23 events Friday at Jim Reitz Pool.
Six of the 23 wins came via the 50-meter back, breast and fly skins competition. Those included eliminations with only two advancing to finals following the prelims and semifinal round.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
- The women's 400-meter medley relay teams started the day strong with a 1-2-3 sweep in the event. The 'A' team of sophomore Dominika Trentkiewicz, senior Heather Gardner, freshman Lauren Palacios and senior Bridget Sullivan placed first (4:07.80), while the 'B' squad of freshman Halayna Montrichard, graduate student Madison Petschauer, freshman Caroline Waters and senior Pilar Cohen placed second (4:12.61) and the 'C' squad fell closely behind in third (4:17.62).
- Palacios earned a victory in the 200 fly, reaching the wall in 2:18.47. Additionally, junior Ashley Hughes (2:23.64) finished in second.
- Adding another victory was Cohen in the 50 free (25.92) and placing second was junior Averi Webb (26.39).
- Freshman Grace Wharton won the 200 IM, marking a time of 2:16.81, while her freshman counterpart Waters claimed second (2:22.41).
- The Rebels completed another 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 free. Sullivan took first (56.52), Carlson followed closely behind in second (56.71) and senior Gina Miller rounded out the trio in third (56.83).
- In a 1-2 Rebel finish in the 200 back, Wharton claimed another victory, clocking a time of 2:15.39. Montrichard followed closely behind in second (2:15.43).
- Sweeping the top two spots in the 200 breast, junior Jillian Moses took the victory with a 2:34.93 and Petschauer placed second (2:38.66).
- Adding another 1-2-3 Scarlet & Gray sweep in the 400 free, Carlson won (4:15.03), Olson finished second (4:16.92) and Miller claimed third (4:21.12).
- In the 400 free relay, the Rebels' 'A' team of Cohen, Webb, Trentkiewicz and Sullivan took first in a time of 3:47.61.
- Junior Erika Carlson added a second-place finish in the 200 free (1:59.83) just seven-tenths of a second behind first-place.Olson rounded out the event by touching the wall in third place (2:01.81).
- The Rebels collected additional victories from Trentkiewicz in the 50 back (28.01), Gardner in the 50 breast (32.68) and Petschauer in the 50 fly (27.92).
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
- The men's 400-meter medley relay teams took the top-two spots. The 'A' team quartet of sophomore Wikus Potgieter, senior Adnan Beji, freshman Emil Perez and Kiril Stepanov finished first (3:35.36). The 'B' team of sophomore Tatsuki Inoue, senior Michael Breitbart, senior Cooper Kiel and junior Josh Peters contributed a second-place finish (3:40.37).
- Sophomore Ambrus Barcsak won the 200 free in a time of 1:49.01, while redshirt sophomore Colby Raffel followed closely behind (1:49.32) in second.
- In another Rebel 1-2-3 finish, Raffel (1:59.11), senior McKay Mickelson (2:02.34) and sophomore Hayden Lambert (2:06.19) placed first, second and third in the 200 fly, respectively.
- Completing a sweep of both the men's and women's 50 free events, Stepanov claimed the victory (23.30) and Barcsak added a second-place finish (23.34).
- Stepanov then earned his second victory in the 100 free, reaching the wall in 49.86.
- Pitching in another two Rebel victories were Lambert (3:56.95) in the 400 free and Breitbart in the 200 breast (2:14.48).
- In the 400 free relay, the Rebels took the top two spots with the 'A' team squad of Perez, Inoue, Barcsak and Potgieter placing first (3:21.03) and the 'B' team group of Raffel, Beji, freshman Gabriel Schreiber and Mickelson following in second (3:26.61).
- The Scarlet & Gray men picked up three more wins from Potgieter in the 50 back (24.50), Beji in the 50 breast (27.47) and Perez in the 50 fly (24.08).
QUOTABLE: "Tonight was a lot of fun. The 'skins 50s' competitions were great, seeing the athletes step up with some elimination pressure. I loved the energy the team brought today and I'm looking forward to more racing tomorrow."
-UNLV Head Coach Pat Ota
UP NEXT: The dual meet will conclude on Saturday, with events beginning at 11 a.m. PT.
