MINNEAPOLIS – Senior Daniel Nicusan set another program record in the 200 breast as part of the UNLV men's and women's swimming teams' 14 top-15 finishes on Saturday's final day of the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
The Rebels collected 39 top-15 event finishes at the four-day meet, while squaring off against nationally ranked programs in a five-team pool. Among those were the host Minnesota's No. 18 men's and No. 23 women's teams, along with Cal's No. 5 men's and No. 4 women's squads.
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
- Nicusan set a school record in the 200 breast with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:53.65 that placed him in third.
- Also reaching the wall in the top-10 in the 200 breast, senior Adnan Beji earned an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:55.52 in a sixth-place finish. Coming closely behind was senior Michael Breitbart in eighth (1:58.04).
- Sophomore Tatsuki Inoue swam an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:43.89 in the 200 back to finish sixth. Additionally, sophomore Wikus Potgieter placed 15th in the event with his season-best mark of 1:46.58.
- Redshirt freshman Emil Perez finished 15th in the 100 free with a time of 44.74 seconds.
- In the 200 fly, junior Ian Belflower took fifth on an NCAA 'B' cut swim of 1:44.71, clocking the sixth-fastest time in program history. Eight-hundredths of a second later, redshirt sophomore Colby Raffel reached the wall in sixth place (1:44.80) with his own NCAA 'B' cut.
- Adding a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay, the Scarlet & Gray 'A' group of sophomore Ambrus Barcsak, Potgieter, Perez and Nicusan combined for a time of 2:55.53.
THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
- Making the 'A' final, freshman Grace Wharton finished sixth in the 200 back with a personal-best time of 1:57.44. The time moved her into seventh all-time on the UNLV program record list.
-In the 200 back, freshman Halayna Montrichard notched a 10th-place finish with a personal-best time of 1:57.43, which is the sixth-fastest time in program history.
- In the 100 free, junior Erika Carlson recorded a fifth-place swim in the 100 free (49.49). Senior Bridget Sullivan also contributed a 15th-finish in the event (50.86).
- Tallying another top-15 performance for the Rebels in the 200 breast, senior Heather Gardner touched in 13th place with her season-best time of 2:14.66. The time gives Gardner the seventh-fastest time on the Rebels' school record chart.
- The Rebels' 400 free relay 'A' squad of Carlson, senior Pilar Cohen, sophomore Ava Olson and Sullivan reeled in a fourth-place finish after combining for a 3:20.77.
QUOTEABLE: "It was a great invite. The team really showed up everyday and competed with some great competition. I was really happy posting times that stand at the top of our conference, but also we're staying in the process and working to get better."
-UNLV Head Coach Pat Ota
UP NEXT: The UNLV men's and women's diving teams will return to action at their annual UNLV Invitational set for Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 16-18.
-UNLV-
