SAN ANTONIO, Texas, February 28. ANOTHER night of record-breaking swims is in the books in San Antonio, as the third night of action at the Western Athletic Conference Championships concluded this evening. Three conference records fell tonight as the UNLV men took over the lead and Northern Arizona women maintained first place in the team standings.<\/p>\n
After just missing the WAC conference record in prelims of the men\u2019s 400 IM, Wyoming\u2019s Ryan Nelson made the most of his second opportunity in finals. Nelson led the race from start to finish and held off a hard-charging Iegor Lytvenok of Grand Canyon to win in a new WAC record of 3:45.20. Lytvenok swam a 25.31 final split to give Nelson a serious run with a second-place time of 3:45.59. Both times cleared the previous conference record of 3:47.81, set by UNLV\u2019s Giacomo Gremizzi in November. UNLV\u2019s Jake Priest took third in 3:52.62.<\/p>\n
Grand Canyon rebounded in the women\u2019s 400 IM, as freshman Hannah Kastigar proved to be the class of the field in the distance medley. Kastigar took nearly six seconds off her prelim swim to win in 4:14.69, with Northern Arizona\u2019s Kendall Brown almost four seconds back in 4:18.46. New Mexico State picked up a podium finish with a 4:21.55 for third.<\/p>\n
Fresh off his NCAA \u2018A\u2019 cut in the men\u2019s 50 free last night, UNLV freshman Dillon Virva looked equally impressive in the men\u2019s 100 fly, turning in the top time of 46.65 for his second individual win. Virva just missed the WAC record of 46.24, set by SMU\u2019s Lars Frolander way back in 1997. Grand Canyon\u2019s Ivan Nechunaev also posted a sub-47 swim with a 46.89 for second. Wyoming\u2019s George Eglesfield took third in 47.81.<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s 100 fly, Idaho\u2019s Jamie Sterbis hit the wall fifth at the final turn but came roaring home to take the title in 54.29. New Mexico State\u2019s Terrin Seaver led at both the halfway point and 75-yard mark but couldn\u2019t hold on and ended up second in 54.67. Grand Canyon\u2019s Rebecca Coan finished third in 54.85.<\/p>\n
Wyoming\u2019s Adam Kalms, who last night took second in the men\u2019s 200 IM, made a huge statement this evening in the 200 free. Kalms took the race out fast and pulled away on the final 50 for a blistering 1:33.74, breaking the WAC record by more than a second. SMU\u2019s Lars Frolander set the previous record of 1:34.96 in 1997. That time just missed the NCAA \u2018A\u2019 cut of 1:33.58, but should be enough to earn Kalms a trip to the big dance next month. UNLV\u2019s Samuel Lameynardie hung with Kalms for the first 150 but faded to second in 1:35.10. Wyoming picked up another spot on the podium with Ethan Griffel in third (1:35.24).<\/p>\n
Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Michaela Paige earned her second individual win of the meet in the women\u2019s 200 free with a 1:47.32, denying Idaho\u2019s Rachel Millet her second win of the championships. Millet posted a 1:48.22 for second, while Grand Canyon\u2019s Iryna Glavnyk rounded out the top three in 1:48.90.<\/p>\n
This morning, UNLV\u2019s David Szele broke his own WAC conference record in the men\u2019s 100 breast with a 53.12. Unfortunately, he couldn\u2019t duplicate that swim in finals, as North Dakota\u2019s Austin Smith flew to the win in 53.29. Szele wound up second in 53.31, while Air Force\u2019s Michael Barnosky, who took the race out first in 24.72, came in third at 53.54.<\/p>\n
New Mexico State\u2019s Jessica Legge joined the winners\u2019 circle in the women\u2019s 100 breast, dropping four-tenths from her prelim swim and touching first in 1:01.78. Jordan Burnes of Northern Arizona, the top qualifier from the morning, finished second in 1:02.52, just .01 ahead of Idaho\u2019s Erica Anderson (1:02.53).<\/p>\n
UNLV got its third win of the night from Henrique Machado, who touched first in the men\u2019s 100 back in 46.59, more than two seconds ahead of second-place finisher Jayce Calhoon of Wyoming (48.82). Air Force\u2019s Angus McDonald also came in under 49 with a 48.99 for third.<\/p>\n
After finishing second in the 100 fly earlier in the evening, Terrin Seaver of New Mexico State pulled out the win in the women\u2019s 100 back, pulling away from the field on the final 50 to earn the victory in 54.77. Idaho freshman Madison Brewer finished second in 55.75, while Northern Arizona\u2019s Sara Lenhoff rounded out the top three in 55.77.<\/p>\n
The Air Force men completely dominated men\u2019s platform diving, placing four divers in the top five. Dominic Vallejo led the way with 316.55 points, followed by Wyoming\u2019s Derek Campbell (297.10) and Air Force\u2019s Alex Pecci (288.00). Vallejo just missed his own WAC record of 318.90, which he set only 27 days ago.<\/p>\n