UNLV Men, BYU Women Lead Nike Cup Day One

The UC Irvine/Nike Cup concluded day one at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool Thursday night.

The UNLV men (382 points) and the BYU women (351.5 points) lead the Nike Cup following the first day of competition. The Anteater men are fifth with 192 points while the UCI women are 17th with 45 points.

Anteater senior Randall Tom (Wailuku, Hawaii/Seabury Hall) won the 200 IM with a NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:49.27. Kier Maitland of UNLV won the 500 free with a ‘B’ cut time of 4:25.45.

On the women’s side, Natasha Menezes of BYU won the 500 free with a ‘B’ cut time of 4:50.95. Rachel Grant of BYU won the 200 IM with a ‘B’ cut of 2:02.65. Margaret Doolittle of Nevada had a ‘B’ cut as well in the 200 IM with her time of 2:03.26.

The UC Irvine/Nike Cup will continue Friday with prelims beginning at 9:00 a.m. and finals at 6:00 p.m. at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. 

Men‘s UCI/Nike Cup Standings Following Day One
1. UNLV                                    382
2. Air Force                               336
3. BYU                                      278
4. UC San Diego                       220.5
5. UC Irvine                               192
6. Cal State Bakersfield              140
7. Cal Baptist                            126
8. Pacific                                  121
9. Concordia-Irvine                    98
10. Cal State Northridge             92
11. Grand Canyon                     72
12. Soka                                   13.5 

Women’s UCI/Nike Cup Standings Following Day One
1. BYU                                      351.5
2. San Jose State                      263
3. Nevada                                 230
4. UC San Diego                       226
5. UNLV                                    210
6. Pacific                                  196
7. Loyola Marymount                 111
8. New Mexico                          110
8. Alaska                                   110
10. San Diego                           100
11. Pepperdine                          92
12. Air Force                             80.5
13. Cal Baptist                          74
14. Cal State Bakersfield            63
15. Cal State Northridge             46
15. Concordia-Irvine                   46
17. UC Irvine                             45
18. Grand Canyon                     14
19. Soka                                   12

UNLV MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING LEADS NIKE CUP AFTER DAY ONE
The UNLV men's swimming and diving team won three events, including both relays, to move to the top of the team standings after the first day of the 2008 UC Irvine/Nike Cup, while the Rebel women were in fifth place.

The highlight of the day for UNLV on the men's side was Kier Maitland's swim in the 500 free, as he won the event in a NCAA 'B' time of 4:25.45. Teammate John Mendoza was just .01 seconds behind for second, and also earned a NCAA 'B' time. The other wins for the UNLV men came in the two relays. Steven Nelms, Calan Eldridge, Charlie Tapp, and Thomas Andolfsson won the 200 free relay with a time of 1:22.05. Jeff Ellingsen, Andrew Morrell, David Seiler, and Eldridge then finished the night winning the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:20.31.

Other top swimmers for UNLV included Nick Blank, fourth in the 200 IM (1:51.60), and Andolfsson, fourth in the 50 free (20:86).

UNLV scored 382 points to top the men's standings after the first day, while Air Force is second with 336, and BYU third at 278.

The Rebel women had 210 points on the first day to stand in fifth, trailing BYU (351.5), San Jose State (263), Nevada, Reno (230), and San Diego State (226).

Bailey Kustermeyer had the highest finish of the day for UNLV, placing fifth in the 500 free (4:57.61). Lisa Gillespie was 14th in the 200 IM (2:08.61) and Megan Clark took eighth in the 50 free (24.04). UNLV placed third in the 200 free relay (1:35.27), and was fourth in the 400 medley relay (3:50.85).

Pacific: Jenny Lewis Headlines All Swimmers With First-Place Finish in 2008 Nike Cup
In a field of 22 competing universities, the Pacific men's swim team sits in eight place of 12 teams with 121 overall points while the women's team closed out the first day of Nike Cup competition with 196 points in sixth of 19 universities on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Senior Jenny Lewis (Hesperia, Calif.) highlighted the day's events with her best performance of the season in the 50 Free. Lewis touched the wall in 23.12, just hundredths of a second behind her career-best 23.04 speed, However, her 23.12 time would be good enough to land her third on the all-time best list if she had not already been sitting in second in school history.

Jenny finished the race well ahead of BYU's Aleesha Miller, who came in second place with a speed of 23.30. Lewis won the event, which included 152 total participants. Senior April Woo (Honolulu, Hawaii) came in next for Pacific, when she touched the wall in 36th after a preliminary qualifying time of 24.69.

In the men's 50 Free, senior Justin Canty (El Cajon, Calif.) pulled up in 18th place in the race with a time of 21.47, as he was the first Tiger to finish the event. Senior BJ Damazo (Paradise, Calif.) came in next for Pacific, with a 21.88 touch in 31st place.

In relay action, the men's squad of Damazo, senior Stephen Quinn (Livermore, Calif.), senior Dave Platow (Westport, Conn.) and sophomore Danny Platow (Westport, Conn.) recorded a top-10 finish for Pacific, when they finished ninth in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:33.73. Nine touches later, Canty, senior Patrick Walton (Lodi, Caif.), senior Michael Kasten (Livermore, Calif.) and freshman Kevin Byers (Puyallup, Wash.) finished the race with a time of 3:35.94 in 18th place.

For the women, Woo, Lewis, senior Jun Huang (Guangzhou, China) and sophomore Nikki Yamamoto (Honolulu, Hawaii) nearly missed out on a top-five finish as they recorded a sixth place finish in the 400 Medley Relay with a time of 3:53.10.

In distance freestyle races for the women, freshman Jayme Swalin (Kenmore, Wash.) took a ninth-place finish of 97 competitors in the 500 Free touching in 4:59.58. She finished seconds ahead of teammate junior KC Albiston (Salt Lake City, Utah), as she finished the event in 12th place with a 5:03.72 speed.

During that same event for the men, Quinn matched Albiston's 12th-place finish when he touched the wall in 4:38.28, seconds out of 11th place when Cole Smith pulled out a 4:37.09 finish for the Air Force. The next Tiger to finish in the race was senior Matt Lundy (Lafayette, Colo.) who jumped out of the pool with a time of 4:37.10 in 17th place.

Pacific returns to the pool tomorrow, Nov. 21, during the second day of the Nike Cup which runs until Nov. 22.

Air Force Concludes Opening Day at Nike Cup
Paced by several top-10 finishes, the Air Force men’s and women’s swimming teams wrapped up the first day of competition at the Nike Cup, hosted by UC?Irvine at the Belmost Aquatic Complex. The men currently sit in second place in the team standings with 336 points, trailing just conference foe UNLV, while the women are in 12th place with 80.5 points.
 
Recording the top finish for Air Force on day one was sophomore Benjamin Gunn (Gainesville, Ga.), who placed second in the 200 IM with a mark of 1:51.10. Meanwhile, senior captain Bryan Avery?(Mililani, Hawaii) placed third in the event with a time of 1:51.49, after clocking in at 1:51.05 in the preliminaries. Avery’s preliminary mark ranks ninth in the Air Force record books, while Gunn’s time is the 10th-best in Academy history. Also recording a top-10 finish in the event was sophomore Josh Hammervold?(Sugar Land, Texas), who placed seventh after turning in a time of 1:52.39 in the prelims.
 
The Falcons had four swimmers place in the top 10 in the men’s 500 freestyle, led by Sean O’Keefe (Lake OSwego, Ore.), who placed third. Sophomore Tom Hansen (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) was next for Air Force, finishing sixth, followed by Corydon Butler?(Fr., Williamsburg, Va.) in seventh place and Eric Robinson?(So., Lakewood,?Colo.) in 10th place.
 
Sophomore Robert Dawson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was the top competitor for the Falcons in the 50 free, finishing seventh in the race. His time of 20.85 in the preliminaries is tied for 10th in the Air Force record book, and the fastest mark for a Falcon in the event since 2006.
 
Also on day one, the 400 medley relay team of Kai Yamashiro (Sr., Kaneohe, Hawaii), Hammervold, Gunn and Avery placed fourth, clocking in with a time of 3:24.68.
 
On the women’s side, senior captain Jane Hwang?(Irvine, Calif.) was the top finisher for Air Force, placing seventh in the 200 IM. Hwang, the school record holder in the event, clocked a season-best mark of 2:06.71 in the prelims.
 
Meanwhile, three Air Force swimmers advanced past the prelims in the 50 freestyle. Freshman Cassie Fletcher (Durham, N.C.) finished in 18th place with a mark of 24.38, while Alison Ceranski (Fr., Marinette, Wis.)?and Laken Stogner (Sr., Bowdon, Ga.) tied for 22nd place after clocking in at 24.59 in the finals. In addition, Ceranski’s mark of 24.28 in the prelims ranks ninth in the Falcons’ record books and is the fastest time for Air Force in the event since 2004.
 
Also on Thursday, the Falcons added a seventh place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, as Ceranski, Fletcher, Hwang and Stogner combined for a mark of 1:37.06.