UNLV Hosts The University of Toronto in Exhibition Meet

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, November 1. THE University of Nevada-Las Vegas hosted the University of Toronto on Friday night in the team’s home opener, and the Rebels came away with a split in the exhibition dual meet. The UNLV men won by a final score of 177-85, while the women fell 139-123. The UNLV men posted several impressive times in the win, including a 20.35 by Dillon Virva in the 50 free, a 1:47.92 by Balint Batka in the 200 fly and a 3:56.25 by Giacomo Gremizzi in the 400 IM.

UNLV Press Release

The UNLV men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split an exhibition home dual meet with Toronto on Friday night, with the Rebel men winning by a 177-85 score, while the UNLV women fell 139-123 to the Varsity Blues squad.

“I thought we raced well tonight,” said UNLV head coach Jim Reitz. “We’ve been training hard and they’ve been working hard in practice all week, and we didn’t let up on them coming into the meet. So I was proud to see how they fought through that to race hard and put in some good swims tonight. We have a lot of work to do, but this tells me we’re at a good starting point, and I feel the swimmers are buying into our plan for them. I was also impressed with our freshmen tonight, they are improving every week.”

Two Rebels were double-winners on the day, with Giacomo Gremizzi winning both the 200 IM (1:50.96) and 400 IM (3:56.25), while David Szele swept the breast events, with times of 55.16 in the 100 and 2:04.44 in the 200. Single event winners included: Samuel Lameynardie in the 200 free (1:41.52), Henrique Machado in the 100 back (49.84), Balint Batka in the 200 fly (1:47.92), Dillon Virva in the 50 free (20.35), Tom Paco-Pedroni in the 100 free (45.92) and Matt Roe in the 500 free (4:35.93).

UNLV swept both relays as well, with Machado, Szele, Virva and Paco-Pedroni posting a 1:29.20 to win the 200 medley relay, and Paco-Pedroni, Guilherme Passos, Lameynardie and Virva teaming up for a winning time of 3:02.74 in the 400 free relay. That gave the Rebels wins in 12 of the 14 total events in the meet.

Jessica Wong paced the women’s squad, winning the 100 back in 57.46 and the 200 back in 2:03.99. UNLV had two more individual winners, with Julia Fehervari claiming the 50 free in 23.76, and Katelyne Herrington winning her third straight 100 fly race with a time of 56.00.

The Rebel women also won both of their two relays. Wong, Natalie Sanchez, Herrington and Elena Gavrilova won the 200 medley with a time of 1:44.98, while Fehervari, Jessica Heim, Gavrilova and Rachel Dixon claimed the 400 free relay in 3:28.35.

UNLV returns to action next weekend with a pair of meets in the state of Utah, beginning with a Friday, Nov. 8 dual meet at Utah in Salt Lake City, starting at 5 pm (PT).

University of Toronto Press Release

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s swimming team defeated the University of Nevada — Las Vegas 139-123 in dual-meet action on Friday, November 1.

Toronto’s men did not fare as well, dropping a 177-85 decision to UNLV.

“The women really responded to the long travel and back-to-back meets and swam much faster than last week at home so that was a great sign of toughness,” said Varsity Blues head coach Byron MacDonald.

Veteran swimmers Vanessa Treasure (Mississauga) and Paige Schultz (Toronto) claimed three gold medals each, six of the 13 in the meet.

Treasure placed first in the 400 individual medley (IM), 200 breastroke and 200 butterfly, while Schultz was tops in the 100 and 200 freestyle and 200 IM.

“Those two are international calibre athletes so they should do well and we’re unstoppable,” add MacDonald.

Rookie Cino Ling had a breakout performance. The Toronto native won the 100 breaststroke, while also placing second in the 200 breastroke and 200 IM behind Treasure and Schultz, respectively.

Bridget Coley had a strong swim in the 400IM, placing second behind Treasure, while sophomore Jen Tapley earned the silver medal in the 200 freestyle behind Schultz.

After the high of beating rival UBC the night before, the Blues men were not able to rekindle that magic against UNLV.

“They are a top team and it was humbling but valuable for us to swim them,” said MacDonald. “We can only aim for the stars by racing better people. It’s time to go home and work even harder.”

The Varsity Blues return to action November 16-17 as they head to Hamilton, Ont., for the Tihanyil division championships.

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite U of T athletes and teams, please visit www.varsityblues.ca. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for the latest and greatest in Varsity Blues intercollegiate athletics.

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