Air Scarce, Competition Fierce At WAC Championships

Photo Courtesy: Susan Foster

By Emma Foster, Swimming World College Intern

The WAC Championships wrapped up on February 28 at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas. Pool conditions left swimmers, coaches, and fans alike with a nasty case of chlorine cough due to cold weather which would not allow for open-door ventilation. Aside from that, the WAC Championships were a huge success.

The 2014 WAC champions proved themselves dominant once again with the Northern Arizona women and UNLV men defending their titles over the weekend. The NAU women ensured a comfortable victory, scoring 666 points to put them ahead of New Mexico State (539) and UNC (447.5). The men’s score was a little closer, with the team of UNLV holding off Air Force Academy 715.5 points to AFA’s 705.5. The Wyoming men were third with 691.5 points.

Here’s how the “6 Races to Track” panned out:

1. Men’s 200 IM

As predicted, Iegor Lytvenok of Grand Canyon University defended his 2014 title in the 200 IM, re-breaking his Pool, WAC Meet, and WAC record in the process, hitting the wall in a 1:44.29 to go under his previous record of 1:44.84. Behind him were Wyoming’s Adam Kalms (1:46.91) and Air Force’s Michael Barnosky (1:48.39). All three men went under the NCAA ‘B’ cut on their way to the podium.

2. Women’s 400 IM

Hannah Kastigar of Grand Canyon University did not disappoint, defending her title in the 400 IM and going over two full seconds than her winning time last year, coming into the wall in 4:12.42. This time got her well under the NCAA ‘B’ cut. Behind her were Kendall Brown of NAU (4:19.71) and Monica Pruett also of NAU (4:22.63).

3. Women’s 200 Free

Photo Courtesy: Susan Foster

The 200 freestyle featured an upset, with fifth seed Kelsey Lange surging to first in the final, dropping almost 2.5 seconds from her seed time. Amina Gummesson of New Mexico State was second in 1:48.95, while Rachel Millet of Idaho was third in 1:49.67.

4. Men’s 100 Breast

The 100 breakstroke was as exciting as predicted, with Michael Barnosky of Air Force delivering and breaking the WAC and WAC Meet records by one one-hundredth of a second, getting his hand on the wall in 53.11 (previously 53.12 set in 2014 by David Szele of UNLV). Kyle Scalise of Wyoming was second (54.41) while Brett Emery of Bakersfield was third (54.60). All three men swam under an NCAA ‘B’ cut.

5. Men’s Mile

While Mitchell Huxhold of Bakersfield didn’t quite manage to repeat his exciting NCAA qualification in the mile that he performed in 2014, he did manage to defend his title, clearing the rest of the field by almost 18 seconds. He touched in victory in a time of 14:56.84. Kevin Jackson of Air Force followed him in a time of 15:14.56, while the bronze went to Ryan Nelson of Wyoming who swam a 15:20.49.

6. Women’s 400 Free Relay

Photo Courtesy: Susan Foster

Although seeded third, Bakersfield, the defending champs, proved themselves with a five second drop from their seed time. The team of Paola Hernandez, Lauren Kaufman, Nicolette Goncalves, and Kelsey Lange hit the wall first in a final time of 3:22.82. They were followed by Idaho’s team of Jamie Sterbis, Erica Anderson, Sami Hendricks, and Rachel Millet (3:25.19) and Grand Canyon’s Iryna Glavnyk, Rebecca Coan, Celine Schoemans, and Hannah Kastigar (3:25.30).

While these are just some of the races I predicted would be exciting, WAC was filled with fast swimming from start to finish. The swimmers all stayed strong, even when air quality was bad, and showed a strong amount of resolve, as did the coaches and fans.

End of Meet Honors

New Mexico State’s Amina Gummesson was dubbed Freshman of the Year, Grand Canyon’s Hannah Kastigar was named Swimmer of the Year, and Northern Colorado’s Savanna Meadows was awarded Diver of the Year. Northern Arizona’s Andy Johns was titled Swimming Coach of the Year,and Northern Colorado’s Mark Murdock took Diving Coach of the Year honors.

On the Men’s Side Wyoming’s Ryan Ball was honored as Freshman of the Year, UNLV’s Dillon Virvaw took home Swimmer of the Year, and Air Force’s Nate Zillweger was Diver of the Year. Coach Jim Reitz of UNLV was the Swim Coach of the Year, and Stan Curnow of Air Force was named Diving Coach of the Year.

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Nancy Loveless Hinrichs

9 years ago

Way to go Ryan Ball!