SAN ANTONIO, Texas, March 1. THE UNLV men won their first conference title as members of the Western Athletic Conference, while the Northern Arizona women erased the memory of a seven-point second-place finish last year as both schools were crowned first-time WAC champions Saturday night.<\/p>\n
The final session of the meet opened in exciting fashion, as Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Mitchell Huxhold put on a clinic in the men\u2019s 1650 free. Huxhold, who won the 500 free on day two, led from start to finish and destroyed the WAC record by 23 seconds with a 14:47.18. Drew Whiting of Air Force had set the previous best of 15:10.31 back in 1991. Huxhold\u2019s time also knocked about 34 seconds off his seed time coming into the meet, and cleared the NCAA \u2018A\u2019 cut by .01. Air Force\u2019s Andrew Faciszewski out-touched UNLV\u2019s Matt Roe for second, 15:15.35 to 15:15.38.<\/p>\n
Northern Arizona, who has led the women\u2019s meet since day one, made a statement in the women\u2019s mile with a sweep of the top three places. Teammates Kendall Brown (16:33.27), Emma Lowther (16:40.64) and Caitlin Wright (16:42.87) were the class of the field, sweeping the podium spots and picking up huge points for NAU to put the women\u2019s title all but out of reach.<\/p>\n
An exciting race went down in the men\u2019s 200 back, between 100 back winner Henrique Machado of UNLV, 400 IM runner-up Iegor Lytvenok of Grand Canyon and the top qualifier from prelims, Jayce Calhoon of Wyoming. Calhoon just missed the WAC record in prelims, and all three swimmers were gunning for it in finals. Machado held the lead through the 150, but Lytvenok chased him down with a 25.87 final split to take the win and the record with a 1:43.48. That topped the previous record of 1:44.13, set by BYU\u2019s Arunas Savickas in 1998. Machado also broke the old mark with a 1:43.68 for second, while Calhoon would up third in 1:44.48.<\/p>\n
Grand Canyon picked up its second consecutive victory after another tight race in the women\u2019s 200 back. Freshman Iryna Glavnyk trailed New Mexico State\u2019s Terrin Seaver by less than a tenth at the 150 mark, but had just enough left to get her hand on the wall first in 1:57.46. Seaver touched right behind in 1:57.57, while teammate Tricia Kiss out-touched three other swimmers to take third in 1:59.15.<\/p>\n
Another WAC record nearly went down in the men\u2019s 100 free in a nail-biter finish. UNLV\u2019s Tom Paco-Pedroni was only .02 off of Lars Frolander\u2019s 1997 conference and meet record, touching in 42.70. That\u2019s only .16 off the NCAA \u2018A\u2019 cut in the event, and should be fast enough for a ticket to NCAAs in a few weeks. The battle for second was just as close, as 200 free champ Adam Kalms of Wyoming got to the wall next in 43.05, just .02 in front of UNLV\u2019s Samuel Lameynardie (43.07).<\/p>\n
Idaho\u2019s Rachel Millet, winner of the 200 IM on night one, earned her second individual win of the meet with a speedy 50.08 in the women\u2019s 100 free. She finished comfortably ahead of Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Paola Hernandez, who also cracked 51 with a 50.81. Grand Canyon\u2019s Jovanna Koens rounded out the top three in 51.11.<\/p>\n
One night after winning the 100 breast in somewhat of an upset, North Dakota junior Austin Smith made it a sweep by smashing the WAC conference record in the men\u2019s 200 breast by .55 with a 1:56.15. Byron Shefchik of BYU held the previous meet and conference record of 1:56.70, set in 1998. UNLV\u2019s Giacomo Gremizzi hung with Smith the entire way and finished close behind in 1:56.87. Wyoming\u2019s Kyle Scalise out-touched UNLV\u2019s Brandon Meier for third, 1:58.36 to 1:58.46.<\/p>\n
Northern Arizona picked up its second 1-2-3 sweep of the night with another impressive showing in the women\u2019s 200 breast. Jordan Burnes led the way in 2:13.35, followed by Urte Kazakeviciute in 2:14.99 and Stirling Smith in 2:16.39.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s 200 fly, Wyoming sophomore George Eglesfield got the better of his opponents, pulling away over the final 50 to win in 1:45.22, just a hair off the WAC record of 1:45.00. UNLV\u2019s Balint Batka gave Eglesfield all he could handle with a 1:45.70 for second, while Ryan Nelson, also from Wyoming, wound up third in 1:46.26.<\/p>\n
Idaho\u2019s Jamie Sterbis made it a sweep of the fly events, winning her second individual event of the weekend with a 1:56.77 in the women\u2019s 200 fly. Sterbis pulled away from Grand Canyon\u2019s Hannah Kastigar over the final 50, as Kastigar touched in 1:57.38. Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Michaela Paige closed out her meet with a 2:00.51 for third.<\/p>\n
Idaho\u2019s Paige Hunt proved to be the best platform diver in the field as she posted 265.55 points to easily outdistance New Mexico State\u2019s Jaymee Porter (233.75) and Northern Arizona\u2019s Chelsea Jackson (230.50).<\/p>\n
The UNLV men closed out their successful meet with another relay win, this time in the 400 free relay. Samuel Lameynardie (44.20), Tom Paco-Pedroni (42.01), Giacomo Gremizzi (43.61) and Dillon Virva (43.04) shot down their own conference record from November with a 2:52.86, well under the previous record of 2:55.06. Grand Canyon also came in under the old record with a 2:54.31 for second, while Wyoming rounded out the top three in 2:55.84.<\/p>\n
Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Michaela Paige (50.60), Paola Hernandez (50.16), Lauren Kaufman (50.47) and Kelsey Lange (49.80) took home the final event of the meet with a winning time of 3:21.03 in the women\u2019s 400 free relay. Idaho (3:22.61) and Grand Canyon (3:23.31) wrapped up their meets with second and third place finishes, respectively.<\/p>\n
One year after taking second by only seven points, the Northern Arizona women captured the title with 743 points. Idaho finished with 642 points to take second and New Mexico State placed third with 528. Cal State Bakersfield (442), Grand Canyon (438), North Dakota (364), Northern Colorado (349) and Seattle (154) made up the rest of the team standings.<\/p>\n
UNLV picked up its first-ever WAC title on the men\u2019s side with 767 points. Wyoming, who challenged the Rebels\u2019 lead throughout the meet, took second with 702 points. Air Force wound up third with 625 points, followed by Grand Canyon (503), North Dakota (390), Cal State Bakersfield (335) and Seattle (193).<\/p>\n
Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s Mitchell Huxhold won the men\u2019s WAC Swimmer of the Year award, while Idaho\u2019s Rachel Millet was awarded the women\u2019s WAC Swimmer of the Year award. The UNLV (Jim Reitz) and Northern Arizona (Andy Johnson) head coaches were recognized with WAC Coach of the Year awards.<\/p>\n