WAC Championships: UNLV Men, Northern Arizona Women Finish on Top

Photo Courtesy: UNLV Athletics

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships took place in Pharr, Texas, from Feb. 28-March 3, 2024.

On the men’s side, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) won its fourth consecutive conference title with 972 points, a solid 329 points ahead of the runnerup, Grand Canyon University, which finished with 643 points.

California Baptist University took third overall with 612 points. Fourth place went to Wyoming who totaled 470 points. The Air Force Academy took fifth with 456 points and sixth place went to Seattle University, which finished with 248 points.

On the women’s side, Northern Arizona University finished on top for the 11^th year in a row with 841.5 points. The runner-up team was Grand Canyon University, which collected 588 points.

New Mexico State University took third place with 504 points, and only nine points behind was the University of Northern Colorado who finished in fourth place with 495 points. California Baptist University gathered 424 points, earning it a fifth-place finish. The University of Idaho took sixth place with 383.5 points. Utah Tech University collected 239 points for a seventh-place finish. Eighth place went to Seattle University with 163 points.

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Day One

The UNLV men started night one of competition off strong with a win in the 200-medley relay. The relay team of Wikus Potgieter (freshman), Adnan Beji (junior), George Ratiu (senior) and Bryson Huey (junior) finished with a time of 1:24.47. The second-place finish went to the relay team from GCU with a time of 1:25.60.

The GCU women achieved their first win of the week in the 200-medley relay, finishing with a time of 1:38.86. The relay team consisted of Briana Rittenbach (GS), Raphaela Nakashima (senior), Paula Martinez (sophomore) and Maria Brunlehner (junior). CBU earned second place with a time of 1:39.97.

The women’s 1-meter diving competition was a close finish for first and second place. Victoria Knapp, a senior from NAU, won with a score of 301.50 points. Only 3.2 points behind Knapp was her teammate, Maegan Jensen (senior) who scored 298.30 points.

The second relay of the night kicked off with another win from the UNLV men. The 800-freestyle relay was a close race between the top three teams. The UNLV relay team of Cameron Castro (GS), Colby Raffel (redshirt freshman), Cooper Kiel (senior) and Dominik Bujak (junior) touched the wall with a time of 6:24.55. Second place went to the University of Wyoming with a time of 6:24.69 while GCU took third with a 6:24.95.

NAU picked up a win in the 800-freestyle relay on the women’s side. The team of Helena Robla (junior), Bena Koehn (junior), Madison Rey (senior) and Annie Carlton (senior) clocked a time of 7:13.38. The second fastest time came from UNC, finishing with a time of 7:16.69.

Gael Jiminez-Mestes, a sophomore from CBU, finished on top in the men’s 3-meter diving final with a score of 404.35, while his teammate, Mario JR De Valle (freshman) took second place with his score of 396.65.

Day Two

Starting off the second night of finals, the UNLV relay team of Huey, Ratiu, Castro and Steven Butler (GS) captured their third relay win of the meet in the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:17.53. With a close finish for second place, GCU battled it out and finished with a time of 1:19.23.

The CBU women took first place in the 200-freestyle relay by only .05, finishing with a time of 1:31.50. The relay team consisted of Naya Koc (sophomore), Sofia Maksimova (junior), Nicole Reynolds (sophomore) and Emily Drossel (sophomore). Second place went to NWSU who touched the wall at 1:31.55, and third place went to NAU with their time of 1:31.97.

De Valle took first place in the men’s 1-meter diving final, scoring 408.20 points, while his teammate, Jiminez-Mestes took second with his final score of 388.75. Isaac Poole, a senior from GCU earned a third-place finish with his score of 377.65.

CBU’s Mark Kovacsics (sophomore) won the men’s 500 freestyle with his time of 4:18.63. Castro earned a silver medal in the event with his time of 4:23.63.

NAU saw the top two spots on the podium in the women’s 500 freestyle. Rey won the event with her time of 4:46.60, while Casey Craffey clocked in a time of 4:49.25 for a second-place finish.

Kiel earned the gold medal in the men’s 200 IM with his time of 1:45.75, while his teammate, Michael Breitbart (junior) from UNLV earned silver with a time of 1:46.15. Jonathan Rom, a sophomore from GCU took third with a 1:46.25.

In the women’s 200 IM, there were two swimmers who went under 2:00 in the event. Clocking in a time of 1:59.58, Brunlehner took first place. With a time of 1:59.86, the senior from NMSU, Lindsay Puhalski, earned second place.

The men’s 50 freestyle was a close race as the top four men all finished under 20 seconds. With a time of 19.23, Huey saw the top of the podium again with his win in the men’s 50 freestyle. Second place was awarded to his teammate Ratiu for his time of 19.44.

On the women’s side, Maksimova was the only swimmer to break 22 seconds in the 50 freestyle, securing her winning time of 21.89. Almost a second later, Ella Haskins came zooming into the wall, finishing with a time of 22.82.

The last event of the night was the women’s 3-meter diving final, where Grace Wesche, a sophomore from NAU, won the event with 320.10 points. There was a battle for second place and Mackenna Stocker (sophomore) from NAU came out on top, finishing .05 ahead of her teammate, Margaret Wesche (sophomore) from NAU.

Day Three

UNLV dominated the men’s 400 IM as Breitbart took first place with a time of 3:47.37 and Raffel took second place, finishing with a time of 3:49.56. Camden Swigart, a sophomore from AFA, swam a time of 3:50.40, securing a third-place finish.

Puhalski took first place in the women’s 400 IM with her time of 4:14.32. Coming in second was Rey with a time of 4:16.25. With a time of 4:17.78, third place went to Ginger Kiefer (freshman) from UI.

Ratiu secured a gold medal in the men’s 100 butterfly with his time of 46.21. Silver went to Gavin Smith (junior) from the University of Wyoming with his time of 47.01. Tyler Mansheim (junior) from CBU captured the bronze with a time of 47.17.

Maksimova earned a spot at the top of the podium with her 100 butterfly win, swimming a time of 52.54. Katelyn Bergin (senior) from UNC took second place with her time of 53.44.

A junior from the University of Wyoming, Quinton Cynor, won the men’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:34.34. Castro made another appearance on the podium with his second-place time of 1:35.42.

Elizabeth Mayer, a junior from UNC, swam a 1:48.89 in the women’s 200 freestyle, recording the fastest time in the event. Kyra Rabess (freshman) from UNC and Naomi Slee (sophomore) from NMSU were only .01 apart, finishing with a 1:49.09 and 1:49.10.

UNLV picked up another win in the men’s 100 breaststroke with Beji’s time of 52.70. Rom gathered some points for GCU with his second-place finish and a time of 53.59. Not far behind him was Thomas Nagle, a junior from AFA, who finished with a time of 53.68.

Brunlehner swam the women’s 100 breaststroke in a 1:00.18 for a first-place finish. Nakashima placed second in the event with a 1:01.56. Coming in third was Maria Erokhina (sophomore) from UNC who finished in a 1:01.96.

Alex Volkov, a sophomore from GCU took first place in the men’s 100 backstroke, clocking in a time of 46.23. Coming in second place was Potgieter who swam a time of 47.01. UNLV’s Tatsuki Inoue (freshman) came in third with his time of 47.21.

Martinez won the women’s 100 backstroke with a time of 53.75. Sophie Velitchkov, a senior from NAU, took second in the event with a time of 54.39. Third place went to Mary Cross, a freshman from UTU, with her time of 54.48.

De Valle picked up another win in the men’s platform diving event with his score of 473.40, while Jiminez-Mestes obtained another silver medal with his score of 343.20. Dima Tereshchenko (junior) from UNLV earned a third-place finish with his score of 342.85.

UNLV won its fourth relay of the meet in the men’s 400-medley relay. The team of Potgieter, Beji, Ratiu and Huey finished with a time of 3:08.18. Following them was the University of Wyoming and GCU.

The last win of the night went to GCU’s 400-medley relay team of Rittenbach, Nakashima, Martinez and Brunlehner with their time of 3:37.93. Second place went to NAU, and third place went to CBU.

Day Four

Kovacsics won the men’s 1650 freestyle in a time of 15:06.75. Hayden Lambert, a freshman from UNLV went a 15:18 to earn second place.

Craffey took first in the women’s 1650 freestyle with her time of 16:21.84. About 15 seconds later, Rabess touched the wall at 16:36.52 for a second-place finish.

After a third-place finish in the 100 backstroke the night before, Inoue came back and took first in the men’s 200 backstroke with his time of 1:43.58. With a close second place finish, Potgieter swam a time of 1:43.69.

The women’s 200 backstroke was a close race between Carlton and Puhalski. Carlton pulled out the win with her time of 1:57.27 while Puhalski took second with a 1:57.35.

Ratiu won the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 43.09. Mansheim wasn’t too far behind with his second-place time of 43.34.

Brunlehner added another gold medal to her collection after her win in the women’s 100 freestyle. She clocked in at 48.79 while Haskins picked up a second-place finish with her time of 49.78.

Rom finished on top in the men’s 200 breaststroke with his time of 1:53.87. Beji had another appearance on the podium with his second-place time of 1:54.38.

Erokhina took first place in the women’s 200 breaststroke after finishing the event in a 2:13.00 flat. Kodi Wiman, a freshman from NMSU, earned a silver medal with her time of 2:14.64.

Raffel won the gold in the men’s 200 butterfly with his time of 1:43.89. Cynor earned another medal by placing second in the event with a time of 1:44.76.

Rey added another gold medal to her collection after swimming a time of 1:58.80 in the women’s 200 butterfly. Payten Irwin, a senior from UNC, took second place, finishing with a time of 1:59.16.

Stocker took first place in the women’s platform diving event with her score of 278.50. Coming in second place was Audrey Thordarson-Wehner (freshman) from CBU, who scored 263.55 points.

The UNLV men picked up their fifth and final relay win in the 400-freestyle relay. The team of Ratiu, Huey, Castro and Butler finished with a time of 2:51.65. GCU took second place, and the University of Wyoming took third.

The NAU women finished the last event of the meet on top in the women’s 400-freestyle relay. The team consisted of Elsa Musselman (sophomore), Carlton, Velitchkov and Koehn who clocked in with a time of 3:20.02. A hundredth, GCU touched the wall while UI came in third place.

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